Hammer Rita, Chapter 11, Question 7

While reading chapter 11, I kept asking myself why doesn't every country just have the same currency since inflation, exchange rates, etc make transfers seem extremely complicated and often times result in a bad deal for someone. On page 262, Wheelan adresses this question by saying, "There are benefits to broadening a currency zone... A single currency across Europe reduces transaction costs and promotes price transparency," Its a good thing that Europe doesn't have the struggle of exchanging currencies all the time anymore; however, Wheelan goes on to say, "countries that share a currency with other nations...give up control over their own monetary policy." I found it interesting that if all countries did actually have the same currency, the world would have an extremely hard time growing economically because if one country or area is heading towards a recession and could benefit from lower interest rates, the other areas that are thriving or experiencing severe inflation (and could benefit from lower interest rates) would suffer. This perhaps would create huge tensions and disagreements amongst different nations about how the economy should be operating. Overall, the idea of having one currency wouldn't work.