I WAS asked yesterday in a radio interview about the Treasury's report, published on Monday, which predicted a sharp recession if Britain votes to leave the EU. My opponent in that debate dismissed my view on the grounds that The Economist had advocated Britain joining the euro back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Of course this sort of argument is a red herring (if you're wrong about one thing does it definitely mean that you're wrong about something else?), but it's worth pointing out for the record that we were sceptical about the prospect of Britain joining.
First we have long been sceptical about the idea of the euro for any country. In a special report in 1998 we argued that "the European economics are ill-preared for the euro" and that "Europe does not make an ideal currency area". Our hope back then was that, with a single currency, economies like Italy, Spain and the rest would be forced to implement structural reforms that made their economies more competitive. (Of course this did not happen to the extent that it was required.)
