A Worldwide Currency

[~Legend~]

This is not something imminent from the news or media, nor is it a recent incident or movement.

This is something that I have thought about once in a while, and been thinking about more recently. You could say it is something of an idea, but I am pretty sure it's a thought that several people have already considered.

Some people say that "money keeps the world running". None of us can disagree with the fact that, in the 21st century, money is important in different ways: development, personal use and financial security to name a few.

Currency is the medium of exchange we use, and there's somewhere in the region of 150-200 different currencies being moved around the globe today.
With so many, it's not an easy thing trying to uniform each one. Bread might cost 10x in one country, while 150y in another, and it wouldn't make sense trying to sell or buy with the "wrong" currency. Exchange rates play a big role, trying to weigh up the value of each currency. It's fairly complex, to an extent, how all of it is sorted and how everything plays out.

I was thinking, would it not be simpler if everyone dealt in one currency? One uniform valued money that everyone across the world would be able to trade in, without worrying about exchange rates, imbalances or discrepancies on the global market. It's almost like a world language, but here everyone would share the same economic tongue, having the potential to break down political and socio-economic barriers.
Taking just our own virtual currency - the Argonath RPG Dollar (ARD) - for example, between each of the servers there are variations in value. 1k in SA:MP is not quite the same as 1k in VC:MP.

A unified currency system could solve many problems, looking at it that way. Products, goods could all be priced on a level balance. Companies could trade on a level playing field, employees paid similar rates globally. There is a "business currency" or a currency that is most commonly used for large trading purposes - the US Dollar (or the 'Federal Reserve Note', FRN). The Euro - which is perhaps the greatest example of currency union, having been adopted by almost a whole continent, is also widely used. In the past, the British Pound Sterling also commonly exchanged wallets and pockets (perhaps as a result of colonial prowess).

However, trying to pursue something like this, would it only bring masses of confusion - a logistical impossibility? Would it not work on such a large scale, who would control its making and management? If one superpower was at the heart of a great empire, it could impose its currency upon the several other states in its control, and a unified currency could take over from there. This "impossibility", would people argue that it could also be a loss of history or heritage; currency can be symbolic to a nation?


Further Notes, Reading

• Wikipedia: Currency union
  
• msnbc: "What if the world all used the same currency?"
  
• One Country: "Perspective: One world, one currency"
  
• babypips.com "A world currency - Pros and cons and can it become a reality"
  

[ElMartu]

Well if the US Dollar was the worldwide currency then pretty much all the undeveloped countries' economy would crash

[EliteTerm]

Well if the US Dollar was the worldwide currency then pretty much all the undeveloped countries' economy would crash

Technically, it is.

[Mikal]

F**k that...
I'm fine with GB pound and my guess is every country would argue that it's their country's currency that the whole world should use..

[~Legend~]

^ Yeah, true.

It's like trying to decide upon a world language. In politics, aviation, business and other fields, it's most commonly English.
Language is maybe closer to people than the currency they deal in. People like money, but I don't know, do you ever get attached to the currency?

If a lot of the world decided to adopt a common currency it may end up being the US Dollar or the Euro, looking at its wide use.
Or maybe, to remove any kind of untold dominance by any nation a whole new currency would be created. Either way, both the Dollar and Euro would need changes in design and all... not sure how many would be keen on having the US stars or EU symbols everywhere.

[Jcstodds]

I thought the universal currency is gold, and a lot of things are relative to that.

(Not that I really care/ know about it, as long as I get a good deal from the exchange rate from GBP to holiday money).

[Patton]

Ten years ago this could get you everything in the world. Perhaps it is time to bring it back. :bow:

[Alan.Wake]

could get you everything in the world.

Errr, a piano? Hmmmmm

[~Legend~]

Hmm.. yeah.. it's a little weird...

I was watching something on Discovery a few months back. I remember them quoting a figure of several millions(?) of US bills being made every day... you wonder why, sometimes, and where it all goes, and how complex it must be on a world scale to monitor.

Guess that is why we see problems such as in Zimbabwe, where a newspaper cost $10 billion Zimbabwean dollars in 2008.

[JDC]

Guess that is why we see problems such as in Zimbabwe, where a newspaper cost $10 billion Zimbabwean dollars in 2008.

It would be cheaper to paste money on your walls than to buy wallpaper then. :poke:

[Mikal]

Hmm.. yeah.. it's a little weird...

I was watching something on Discovery a few months back. I remember them quoting a figure of several millions(?) of US bills being made every day... you wonder why, sometimes, and where it all goes, and how complex it must be on a world scale to monitor.

Guess that is why we see problems such as in Zimbabwe, where a newspaper cost $10 billion Zimbabwean dollars in 2008.

They spend it on sticking their noses into other countrys business, for instance... The UK arrested some terrorists (In the UK) and the US instantly dived on them asking for them to be extradited to America, which they have been. :roll:

[~Legend~]

It would be cheaper to paste money on your walls than to buy wallpaper then. :poke:

Yea, probably. >.<

One of the reasons that Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe's President) had his honourary British knighthood stripped by the queen was for "hyperinflation".

They spend it on sticking their noses into other countrys business, for instance... The UK arrested some terrorists (In the UK) and the US instantly dived on them asking for them to be extradited to America, which they have been. :roll:

Heh, world politics isn't always the safest place to stick anyone's nose into. :P
It's not "unsafe" as in violence, I'd say, but more because of international relations, agreements/disagreements, political conflicts.

Deciding who should take care of a criminal charge/investigation can be a bit vague at times.

[Y2JFaN]

They spend it on sticking their noses into other countrys business, for instance... The UK arrested some terrorists (In the UK) and the US instantly dived on them asking for them to be extradited to America, which they have been. :roll:

More anti US posting. At least you're right about it this time though. But regardless this is not the place to discuss how much you hate USA.

Can someone inform me as to why a world currency would be so bad? I've heard from people it would be some terrible idea. I assume that if all the money is under one currency, whoever controls it can do pretty much whatever they want and cause so much financial trouble on a world-wide scale?

[~Legend~]

Can someone inform me as to why a world currency would be so bad? I've heard from people it would be some terrible idea. I assume that if all the money is under one currency, whoever controls it can do pretty much whatever they want and cause so much financial trouble on a world-wide scale?

You can go quite in depth about the topic, but some of the points that I am aware of:

- People may see their currency as part of their culture, a national symbol and different levels of importance would be given to it. Some would not want to lose that.

- One currency can create a lot of questions and issues. Who should be in charge of it/monitoring it/overseeing it? Should it be a joint committee and plus, where would it be based and produced? Obviously, the easy answer might be to hand it over (or rather "share" the responsibilities of its production and management) between so called world powers such as those in N. America, Europe, Asia... but would that be fair? There would always be arguments and it would be a difficult feat to actually make it fully justified and fair, I feel. Not because we can't do it, but because it's almost an impossibility - there would always be some kind of compromise as not all aspects could be satisfied.

- If one nation became too powerful would the dominate this world currency and bid others to their will? Increasingly now, the world's an economic/political system.

- There could be a lot of disparity between wealth. You may have the richest and the poorest living side by side in terms of countries. Some may gain from it while others would suffer. It's a bit of an economic conundrum, and I'm sure things like inflation and recession would live on through media headlines.

- Organisationally, you'd look towards the United Nations, the IMF etc. as good starting points in establishing a world currency. But even then, it would be no easy task to make all the countries agree. There are few cases - if any - where people have agreed unanimously on a large scale. As it is, not everyone is part of world joint organisations or groups. Those that decide to stick out, would it have a backlash on them? How would the rest of the world accommodate them when it comes to trade, industry?

- You can look at existing models of "one currency". Take the Euro, used by a good part of the European continent (note: more so, the EU), it has shown both its weaknesses and strong points. At the moment, with many EU countries being harnessed by financial issues, the Euro is struggling, and there's a lot of debate about whether it has been a good thing for all those countries to adopt the currency. It could be said, that maybe, if one big national economy collapses all those reliant on it - and they would be really reliant on it if they shared currency - would also feel its impact. It would bring the currency down as a whole, and instead of affecting one, it could affects dozens.

- Political tensions never die?
Again, coming to a full agreement or decision would ultimately be hinged on the representatives/leaders of a nation. There would always be some form of tension, and a unified market system - as that is what this could lead towards - may not be accepted by all of the political systems.

[Kirgiz]

People who do not want to go for world wide integrity because "HURR, TRADITION CULTURE" are using fucking stupid logic. No offense to anyone else here, but this is just making things more complicated.