Among economists, there are hardly any voices questioning the wisdom of our decision to join the euro. In this speech I shall try explain how an unpopular currency became popular. I will illuminate our experience from three angles, each of which was present in the debate leading to our eventual decision to join. The first angle is one of business cycle management.
Finland was not really seen as a part of an optimal currency area with the rest of the eleven countries. We had our own, rather idiosyncratic business cycle. Would the common monetary policy exacerbate cyclical volatility in Finland? The second angle is one of crisis management.