1. What are the differences between the countries on the following map?

3. Compare the distances North to South and East to West: are they similar ?

4. Imagine Imagine traveling from Chicago to New York City and having the language, currency, prices of goods, and basic laws change every time you went through a different state. What problems might result?

5. Exchange rates Any time you exchange foreign money there is a commission charge assigned by banks or currency exchanges. Example: $100 US dollars to Canadian. Exchange rate is 1.07 Canadian for every US dollar, or.93 US dollars for every Canadian. Commission charge is $4.00 Canadian. How many Canadian dollars would you get, subtracting the commission charge? 1.07 * 100 = 107 – 4 = $103 How much in US $ was the commission charge?.93 * 4 = $3.72 US Do others – you can get exchange rates on Internet

6. American Dollar 1 USD in USD Argentine Peso 4.13769 0.241681 Australian Dollar 0.999799 1.0002 Brazilian Real 1.6698 0.598874 British Pound 0.645322 1.54961 Canadian Dollar 0.9947 1.00533 Chilean Peso 495.122 0.0020197 Chinese Yuan 6.58742 0.151805 Colombian Peso 1887.48 0.000529807 Croatian Kuna 5.60394 0.178446 Danish Krone 5.65813 0.176737 Euro 0.759255 1.31708 Hong Kong Dollar 7.77067 0.128689 Hungarian Forint 209.411 0.0047753 Iceland Krona 116.503 0.00858347 Indian Rupee 45.3786 0.0220368 Israeli New Shekel 3.5487 0.281793 Japanese Yen 83.2385 0.0120137 Libyan Dinar 1.9324 0.517491 Malaysian Ringgit 3.06817 0.325927 Mexican Peso 12.1974 0.0819847 New Zealand Dollar 1.3121 0.762137 Norwegian Kroner 5.90326 0.169398 Omani Rial 0.3845 2.60078 Pakistan Rupee 85.824 0.0116518 Qatari Rial 3.64 0.274725 Romanian Leu 3.24323 0.308335 Russian Ruble 30.6533 0.0326229 Saudi Riyal 3.75 0.266667 Singapore Dollar 1.29148 0.774305 South African Rand 6.72095 0.148788 South Korean Won 1127.78 0.000886698 Sri Lanka Rupee 110.83 0.00902283 Swedish Krona 6.76667 0.147783 Swiss Franc 0.964511 1.03679 Taiwan Dollar 29.1701 0.0342817 Thai Baht 30.2157 0.0330954 Trinidad/Tobago Dollar 6.38037 0.156731 Venezuelan Bolivar 4.29491 0.232834

7. The European union So…. After centuries of competition and frequent wars, nations of Europe came together in a spirit of unity and cooperation and formed the European Union (EU).

8. 1951: European Coal and Steel Community After WWII some countries in Europe wanted to move away from nationalism and come together instead Robert Shuman proposed France, West Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy agreed to pool coal and steel resources and abolish tariffs on all materials. Regulating coal and steel industry spurred economic growth for those countries

9. 1957: European Community or the Common Market France, West Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Italy Established free trade and stimulated economic growth among member nations Allowed labor and capital to move freely across borders Britain, Demark, and Ireland joined in 1973

10. European Union 1980’s and 1990’s: the group expanded and took on the name EU. After the collapse of Communism, Eastern European countries began to join 1999: A new currency was introduced: Euro 2002: Twelve European Union Member States used the euro cash. 2007: Euro introduced in Slovenia - the first new EU member to introduce the euro. 2008: Euro introduced in two other states - Cyprus and Malta.

11. European Union 4 giants: Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom 5 neighbors of Germany: Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Austria 6 outer countries: Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Spain, Portugal 10 Added Countries: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia 2 Newest Countries: Romania and Bulgaria Total? EU: 2007

12. EU Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium BranchMembersHow chosenTermPowers Commission (Executive) 20 commissioners (2 from each of 5 larger member nations; 1 from each of 10 smaller member nations) By unanimous agreement of European Parliament 5 yearsCarries out treaties that created the EU. Has sole power to propose and carry out legislation. Council of Ministers (Legislature) Each member nation has one minister (votes weighted roughly in proportion to each nation’s size) By governments of individual member nations Determined by governments of individual member nations Accepts or rejects legislation proposed by Commission. European Parliament (Advisory) 626 members (percentage per member nation based roughly on its population By voters in individual member nations 5 yearsDebates proposed legislation; advises both Commission and Council. Can expel entire Commission with a 2/3rds vote. Can reject a draft budget. Court of Justice (Judicial) 15 judges and 9 advocates general By unanimous agreement of member nations 6 yearsDecides whether actions of other branches and private groups with EU rules. Decisions are final and binding.

13. Looking at the problems we mentioned earlier in Europe, what were benefits of the EU?

14. Benefits Save on exchange costs (billions annually) Worth of products (price of goods between countries without the exchange rate) Creates new jobs Creates more stability – more countries involved, so less fluctuation Reduces economic differences among richer and poorer members Easier to cross borders – no showing passports Strengthens trade (no tariffs, export taxes, checking products at borders) Common commercial policy Speak with one voice Same currency – EURO

15. Requirements: Stability of institutions to guarantee democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities. The existence of a functioning market economy as well as the capacity to cope with competitive pressure and market forces within the Union. The ability to take on the obligations of membership including adherence to the aims of political, economic, and monetary union.

16. 1999: A new currency was introduced: Euro 4 originally opted out of Euro – (United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Greece) Why? The rest began replacing money in 2002: 1. Sacrificed the element of sovereignty and gave power to Central Bank 2. Surrendered the right to devaluate (compete against other countries when in a recession) out of trouble 3. Surrendered the right to run budget deficits to counter mass unemployment 4. Only way out of monetary unit is to QUIT 5. To qualify, a country must have stable economy and little currency fluctuation.

17. Why did a few EU countries resist adopting the EURO? 1. Hurt their economy – increase unemployment through layoffs 2. Cared about their currency – sense of pride 3. Expensive to change all currency to EURO

18. European Union: definition The European Union: an organization that promotes cooperation among its members in the areas of: economics and trade, social issues, foreign policy, security and defense, judicial matters, monetary policy, and establishes a single market in which economics of all EU member states are unified

19. Compare and contrast US and EU EU produces and trades more goods than the US Trade barriers across national boundaries are disappearing – like US interstate barriers Common currency plan – EURO Today, the European union is dealing with the collapse of a handful of countries, and now finds itself trying to stabilize their system.