Economy
What holds the euro down?
THE Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) became a reality with the formal launching of the euro currency on January 1, 1999, when the central banks of 11 of the 15 participating countries adopted the single monetary unit. The euro was designed to be at leas t as stable as any of the former national currencies in the Euro zone as it co-exists with the currencies of the 11 countries, including Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland. These co untries are collectively and commonly called the Euro area; four EU members -- the UK, Denmark, Greece and Sweden -- have not accepted the euro.

Economic policy -- I -- The interconnected aspects
WHAT are the components of economic policy pursued by the government? Are they consistent within themselves? Or are they in conflict with one another? Is the current process of policy formulation the best for the country? Can a correct and relevant polic y emerge even without a satisfactory process for its formulation? Is there any economic theory behind the policy being pursued and its components? These questions have to be examined if the economy is to progress along optimal lines in the current contex t, given the constraints. These issues will be discussed in this and subsequent articles.

Editorial
Crude relents
SINCE LATE NOVEMBER, there has been a distinct downward trend in the international price of crude, which cannot but augur well for, among other things, the Oil Pool Account (OPA) deficit for 2000-01. Tension in West Asia and a threat by Iraq to disrupt i ts oil sales had resulted in the Brent ruling at over $33 a barrel at the end of November.

Miscellaneous
Hard talk
I HAVE a friend who is a psychic. The lady has weekly sessions in which she can take you back to the past. This is cheaper than building an expensive time machine to go back to the future. As I needed to do an interview with a character from our past, I sat in on a session.

Politics
Temple talk
ON Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee, made it clear that construction of the Ram Temple at Ayodhya was ``an expression of the national feeling, which is yet to be realised''. In other words, the ``nation'' wanted the construction of the temple although, as he hastened to add, how the temple was built ``is also very important''.

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