What, they confirmed that the English are racist by being racist themselves, or they informed you that the English are all racists? Either way, for you to take away a generalisation such as this from a sample of one or two people is totally ridiculous.
Sorry to have gone off topic again.
[Chrono: you’re onto something with your parochialism comment, but that must be for another thread]
When I said that the Irish accepting the euro would be a great help to Ireland, I was deliberately trying not to incense the british. However I think it is a major factor in Ireland’s favour.
Given the choice between trading in a European country (presumeably to get around EEC trade restrictions and tarrifs) it is likely that the hassle of dealing in several currencies will be taken into account.
The British are certainly parochial and fairly xenophobic (I’m not saying that we are angels), this and their half-committed attitude to Europe is not helping them court international companies.
Why would Irish acceptance of the euro incense the British?
Ireland is a separate nation with the ability to make it’s own decsions, just like Denmark did, which did not incense the British. Maybe I’ve missed your point somehow.
I don’t think myself that xenophobia is peculiar to the British. I’ve experienced it everywhere I’ve ever been, although people like to stereotype the British, often meaning the English, as inward looking and insular, with a suspicion of everything foreign and a false feeling of superiority. Granted, as with most stereotypes, there’s an element of truth to it, but hey, it takes time for the people of a country to come to terms with the fact that they, although once important, are now no different from any other medium sized country.
As to your second point, will the US decide to adopt the Euro for the same reasons? I think not. Trading in different currencies will continue for many years to come, and although less efficient, surely business strategy should not be defined by the similarity, or lack of, of your own and your target companies’ countries.
There are many reasons for the weak attitude of the British towards europe, but as for not courting international companies, from the FT
So we’re not doing too badly.
"When I said that the Irish accepting the euro would be a great help to Ireland, I was deliberately trying not to incense the british. However I think it is a major factor in Ireland’s favour. "
I was surprised that Ireland was accepting it, but not astounded. It seems like they are doing what ever it takes to escape the sluggishness and lack of industrialization that has kept them poor. One is immediately reminded that England refuses to accept it, though. I was wondering what it meant for their economies and what the popular perception was about this.
“What, they confirmed that the English are racist by being racist themselves, or they informed you that the English are all racists? Either way, for you to take away a generalisation such as this from a sample of one or two people is totally ridiculous.”
Obviously my analysis wasn’t a rigorous sociological study. Everywhere you go there is a small proportion of people who are vehemently racist. I have never met a yob except for a domestic one now and then. But the Europeans and all of Great Britain make sport of dissing each other, it seems, especially the English and French. When my friends meet someone from another country they don’t think; ‘hmm, a bloody Frog’ or whatnot and then treat them shabbily. There is no great conviction there. It is not malicious.