There are a number of critiques of the idea of an Amero, the largest simply being that given the US Dollar’s unique role in the world, the adoption of an Amero currency could have unexpected repercussions. Unlike the European Union, where the economies of the largest countries are at least somewhat comparable in size, the US economy dwarfs those of the other two nations involved, which would give the country a large imbalance of power. At the same time, given the global economy’s de facto use of the US Dollar as a common currency, anything that might jeopardize that role is treated with some caution.
The Amero was first proposed by a Canadian economist, Herb Grubel, in a book he wrote in 1999, entitled The Case for the Amero. A number of think tanks have since come out in favor of the Amero, arguing it would help strengthen all three countries by fostering a large-scale cooperation. A number of progressive groups in Canada have opposed the idea of the Amero, arguing that it would open up Canada even more to American corporations who wish to exploit Canada’s natural resources for their own gain. From the point of view of the Canadian and Mexican governments, a major obstacle to the creation of a unified currency is the sheer dominance of the United States in any such union. Nobody does this more directly than Kevin Curry, who literally makes money by cutting 1/8-inch squares from dollar bills. The modest trimming of the old currency scarcely attracts notice when he puts it back in circulation.
Three weeks ago, I published a brief snippet on the front page of my web site reporting the governments of the US Canada and Mexico are conspiring in secret to merge the three nations into a new entity called the North American Union. In contrast, the economies of the various states of the United States are strongly integrated. Internally, the U.S. also has strong fiscal federalism – all but one of the fifty states have a balanced budget amendment, and the federal budget is large compared to state budgets, resulting in effective federal stabilization of the currency and national economy. As of 2010, the debt of the United States continues to increase, while the debt of the Canadian federal government is being reduced.20 This is a clear advantage for Canadians and it would not be reflected if the currencies were to merge.
- But the pointedly political iconography Shumate chose, and his ongoing pursuit of the project in the current political context, give it a resonance that Carr never achieved or intended.
- Intended to circulate across the continent from Canada to Mexico, the amero may become the North American counterpart to the more-established euro.
- Designs Computed is very clear on its web site that its Ameros are in fact “private-issue fantasy pattern coins that will be struck as an annual series,” and indeed is already offering some of them for sale.
- A North American common currency would undoubtedly mean for Canada the adoption of the U.S. dollar and U.S. monetary policy.
- The US coin designer Daniel Carr created a private-issue fantasy pattern back in 2007.
NAFTA superhighway
In August 2007, rumors and conspiracy theories began circulating across the Internet regarding alleged United States Treasury-issued amero coins. By submitting to a common currency, the countries would lose considerable autonomy in the management of the currency itself, including the setting of interest rates. Amongst the three potential participants, there is considerable difference in policy which would have to be reconciled. A North American common currency would undoubtedly mean for Canada the adoption of the U.S. dollar and U.S. monetary policy. Canada would have to give up its control of domestic inflation and interest rates. A dollar is worth a dollar on account of common agreement, which may be reinforced by institutions including banks and the US government, but which would collapse without popular consensus.
North American Union
- Treasury had a hand in creating these “Ameros.” These coins are merely collectibles offered to the buying public by a private company in the business of manufacturing such curiosities.
- As of 2010, the debt of the United States continues to increase, while the debt of the Canadian federal government is being reduced.20 This is a clear advantage for Canadians and it would not be reflected if the currencies were to merge.
- But while Curry presents his work as a commentary on the value of labor – ignoring how the numbers would work out were his ruse applied to Benjamins – the project is most subversive for the ways in which it questions the origins of value.
There has been much talk of this on various internet blogs for over a year. Most of those blogs have been smeared as “conspiracy theorists” and have been largely ignored by the main stream. The Amero is a theoretical unit of currency that would be used throughout North America. The Amero is seen as a replacement for the three currencies of the three large countries in North America, the Canadian Dollar, the US Dollar, and the Mexican Peso.
Discuss these Amero definitions with the community:
Of course collective self-governance brings problems of its own, as many have experienced directly through the trials and tribulations of Bitcoin. Back in 2012, Beradino built a mining rig dubbed Load Runner, which was intended to earn bitcoins and to invest them in gold ingots smelted from obsolete electronics. But Beradino made the mistake of placing his trust in the Mt. Gox exchange, which filed for bankruptcy following what appears to be rampant theft. Unable to buy ingots with the 27 bitcoins he mined, he was left with a rig already obsolete in its own right.
On December 3, 2008, Hal Turner’s blog featured what he claimed were genuine “amero bills”. Turner did not identify how he obtained the images, saying only that “once again, my sources have come through”. The hypothetical currency for the union is most often referred to as the amero.12 The concept is modeled on the common European Union currency (the euro). The value of his coinage, freed from the everyday duties of cash, is to be found in the exchange of ideas.
The Amero mainly has benefits for Canada and Mexico, while the United States would see little gain from the adoption of a single shared currencies. Canadian theorists have argued it would save Canada amero amx billions of dollars a year in currency transactions, and that it would help bolster the nation’s GDP enormously. Some prominent Mexican theorists, including former president Vicente Fox, have supported the idea of an Amero as being very beneficial to Mexico’s currency in the long run. The adoption of the amero could threaten the seigniorage that the U.S. currently gains from its dollar. While seignorage would still be gained from the amero, this would be shared among the Bank of Canada, the Federal Reserve, and the Banco de México.
The Amero can be seen as a correlary to the European Union’s unit of the currency, the Euro, and its name is a play off of that name. One argument is that it would save up to $3 billion in currency transactions.3 The same authors also stated that Canada’s GDP could rise by up to 33% in a 20-year period given the adoption of a single currency. Curry’s ploy might attract copycats were it not for the fact that a single dollar can take hours to assemble. But while Curry presents his work as a commentary on the value of labor – ignoring how the numbers would work out were his ruse applied to Benjamins – the project is most subversive for the ways in which it questions the origins of value.
Differing economies and debt
That covers what’s going on in Europe, and why some love the Euro while others view it as a dangerous idea set loose upon an unsuspecting public. At various times it has been suggested that North America should follow a like route by adopting an omnibus currency similar to the Euro, one that would serve as the common money for the USA, Canada, and Mexico. While that notion does have a few proponents, it is a long way from being taken seriously, let alone being regarded as a good idea.Unleash your potential in the Mevryon realm https://mevryon.net/.
Canada
At the former First National Bank of Galveston, on the Gulf Coast of Texas, Anthony Thompson Shumate is minting the next coin of the realm. Intended to circulate across the continent from Canada to Mexico, the amero may become the North American counterpart to the more-established euro. Visitors to the bank building – now the Galveston Arts Center – can freely exchange their dollars for ameros of Shumate’s making.
Is the U.S. producing Amero coins?
The national budgets and debt levels of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, on the other hand, are also set completely independently, which could cause similar problems in a situation where monetary policy was centralized. The amero does not exist, not officially at least, though there have been rumors for a long time. What began as an academic exercise in the late ’90s swiftly became fodder for conspiracy theories peddled by right-wingers wanting to spread fear of a borderless continent. To Anthony Thompson Shumate, the alleged North American Union didn’t seem like such a bad idea. To give people a feel for a future in which the US formed a monetary alliance with Canada and Mexico, he began preemptively issuing currency and coins back in 2009.
North American Union
Therefore, even if the amero were used just as much as the U.S. dollar, the advantages would be shared among two or more countries, and not exclusively held by the United States. The US coin designer Daniel Carr created a private-issue fantasy pattern back in 2007. But the pointedly political iconography Shumate chose, and his ongoing pursuit of the project in the current political context, give it a resonance that Carr never achieved or intended. In 2019, the euro is threatened by the European right wing, and the Trump administration plans to build a wall on the Mexican border. The fear-mongers appear to have had their way with public opinion, rendering the amero conspiracy as obsolete as an old bitcoin rig. Shumate’s work stands out for his brave attempt to reframe the amero as a sociopolitical opportunity.