Taking our own currency first, we derive the economic benefits of a single currency, but the trade off we make is that we cannot have selective monetary policies by region. The Bank of Canada sets interest rates nationally and the recent upward movement in interest rates, with more likely to follow in the fall, can be justified on the basis of inflation worries, particularly with the "hot" Alberta economy. While politically this is a non-starter at this time, as David Dodge recognizes, the integrating forces in the regional and world economy will inevitably lead to the reduction in the number of currencies in the world, perhaps to only three world currencies. If the hemispheric vision of the Americas I described in an earlier column were to occur, say with Mark 11 versions of the FTA and NAFTA, particularly with freer movement of labour, and with the emergence of Brazil and other economies in the region, we could envisage a new common currency, say the amero. The Daily News covers Halifax — the hub of Atlantic Canada — in more depth than any other newspaper, featuring breaking news, sports, entertainment, business, national and international news. read more
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