Premium
Why New Labour Wants the Euro
Author(s) -
Kettell Steven
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-923x.2004.00571.x
Subject(s) - antipathy , credibility , autonomy , government (linguistics) , currency , economics , democracy , core (optical fiber) , economic policy , market economy , political science , macroeconomics , politics , law , engineering , telecommunications , philosophy , linguistics
This article argues that membership of the single European currency would provide New Labour with a means of enhancing its rules‐based and depoliticised approach to macroeconomic policy management. The move would enable the government to strengthen its anti‐inflationary credibility and to impose further competitive discipline on business and labour, while at the same time also enabling it to increase its governing autonomy by placing core areas of economic policy outside the sphere of democratic control. Despite these advantages, however, formidable obstacles, most notably a high level of public antipathy towards the project, mean that New Labour's euro‐vision is unlikely to be realised.