January 2002 Vol.5, No. 1 Contents Europe at the Crossroads-What Does It Mean? by John Ross Schroeder Restoration: Going Safely Into the Unknown by Darris McNeely Imagine a World Without the United States by Melvin Rhodes Asking the Tough Question: Has Religion Failed? by Cecil E. Maranville The Biblical Origins of the Arab Peoples by Gary Petty In Brief...World News Review by John Foster, Cecil E. Maranville, Ken Martin and Jim Tuck This Is the Way...How Strong Is Your Tea Bag? by Robin Webber What Others Are Saying About the Euro This month the biggest currency swap in history took place across much of Europe. More than 300 million people in 12 nations began using the newly minted currency of the European Union. In a few months the German mark, Italian lira and French franc will become relics of the past. Bible prophecy (Revelation 18) shows a coming world economic colossus will emerge to dominate the world. Europe's monetary union could be a significant development toward that event. Read what other publications have said about the new European currency. "The euro continues to be threatened by the problem present at its birth, which is whether a single fiscal policy can serve 12 (and eventually more) separate and different national economies. The euro arrives as both unifier and divider. The 12 members move closer to one another, but the gap widens between them and others, notably the new states scheduled to join the EU" (International Herald Tribune, Dec. 21, 2001). "The euro 'will be far more than a single currency for Europe,' said Walter Eversheim, a spokesman for the committee that awards the International Charlemagne prize for the greatest contribution to European unity, which this year has been awarded to the currency. 'It will contribute to a common European identity, stabilize the community and foster peace.' "Whatever its strength against the dollar, the euro already is a global currency in every sense of the word. Its 306 million users in 12 countries, including three of the world's seven biggest industrial powers, account for a sixth of the global economy. The euro takes over from the Deutsche mark as the world's second most widely used reserve currency after the dollar. It will replace the Deutsche mark as the shadow currency across Eastern and Central Europe. Across North Africa, it will replace the French franc as a parallel currency. "The euro will become the most widely circulating currency in Europe since the denarius of the Roman Empire" (ibid., Dec. 31, 2001). "The new euro could challenge the U.S. dollar's status" ("The New Europe," National Geographic, January 2002). "To displace the dollar, the euro would need to be known for the stability of its value attested to by its widespread use in foreign trade and international financial transactions...the euro still has to win its spurs. The euro will need a credible track record of some duration before it will win acceptance in world financial markets" ("Assessing the Euro Three Years After Its Launch" by Anna J. Schwartz, The Region, December 2001). "The euro simply cannot fail... Tomorrow, there is only one European currency. Long live the euro" (Wall Street Journal, Jan. 1, 2002). "The euro will be in use in Britain within weeks and will soon be as readily accepted in the high street as sterling, according to Neil Kinnock, Britain's most senior official in Brussels" (The Sunday Times, Dec. 30, 2001). '"In view of the enormous economic clout behind the euro, it will very quickly become either a parallel currency or, depending on the state of the country concerned, the only real accepted currency,' Herr Eichel (the German finance minister) said in an interview with Der Spiegel" (The Times, Dec. 29, 2001). "We will become a greater Europe with the euro. We shall become stronger, wealthier," said Romano Prodi, European Commission president (Associated Press). wnp Send any comments / changes regarding this page to webmaster@churchofgodtwincities.org © 2002-2022 United Church of God, an International Association