tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post1298364839691913603..comments2024-03-17T03:26:42.785-05:00Comments on Macro Musings Blog: How Long Did It Take the United States to Become an Optimal Currency Area?David Beckworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04577612979801459194noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-58437738749838120342014-07-06T18:12:24.353-05:002014-07-06T18:12:24.353-05:00I'm still not convinced the U.S. is an optimal...I'm still not convinced the U.S. is an optimal currency area. Particularly once you consider American Samoa, Puerto Rico, and other U.S. territories which have to use the dollar. Justin D. Tapphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12618278252714742391noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-85183026861452477402014-07-05T15:02:44.222-05:002014-07-05T15:02:44.222-05:00Well, another way of looking at it is that this is...Well, another way of looking at it is that this is in fact good news for the Euro Zone: evidently, you can be a non-optimal currency area and still have strong growth (if punctuated by crises) and hold together as a political entity. <br /><br />Richard A: Actually, you had large parts of the country speaking non-English languages. FOr instance, German used to be very widely spoken in large partsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-12553238229908683452014-07-05T11:15:18.738-05:002014-07-05T11:15:18.738-05:00The term "optimal" suggests a very high ...The term "optimal" suggests a very high standard for a currency zone to meet. Is an optimal currency zone one that could not be divided *in any fashion* that would produce benefits exceeding the extra transaction costs (in the long run)? And won't it be very hard to prove that any currency zone is *optimal*, since the actual zone would have to be compared with all of the Philohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02814125172453918700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5713178645208582139.post-13571714054258675822014-07-04T17:20:35.788-05:002014-07-04T17:20:35.788-05:00In the US, most spoke using a common language, all...In the US, most spoke using a common language, allowing for easy migration between the states. This is not true of the Eurozone.Richard A.noreply@blogger.com