Aidan
And now to your other points

Inflation/interest is low to persuade people not to save, because it slows growth.

Your point is well made regarding to fix or not idea. I live in a poor country that is pegged to the US dollar. I am guessing the Soros types don’t manipulate it because it is too small. It did use to float, and from 1996 to 2000 it went down to 10% of its original value.

Your right, I think the Euro is on life support and only survives because the ECB broke its original rules not to turn itself in to money creating institution.
However the day to day exchanging between currencies is a very lucrative endeavor for the banks and their over paid employees. These trades are computer driven by algorithm programs with nano second frequency and rarely lose.

This was a favorite saying of my mother, used whenever I juggled my first loans. So it is a saying not an analogy, I sit corrected.

Point noted.

WTO does not allow trade barriers.
When I was living in NZ I did a bit of research and found that the cost of a new Vigo at the local dealership was about 10 grand more than the cost in Thailand shipping included. So I applied for permission to import one from Thailand. Turns out that to import one from anywhere other than Japan, I needed a certificate from the senior engineer of the factory who produced it to say it was technically the same as in Japan. As these factories are just assembly plants there is no difference. So I asked the agent I was talking to as to why I had to do that when there is no difference. He said and I quote “now you know why Toyota give tens of millions of dollars to put its name on the black boat sail”.

The value of all currencies is speculative and they have no intrinsic value other than our belief at the time it will be accepted by another party for stuff, debt repayment, and taxes.
Chris

Aidan
Then I guess we will just have to agree to differ, as all opinion is based on ones interpretation of "facts".As you have not commented on the demise of the three world players I assume you think it’s of no consequence, fair enough. So I think we are reaching the end of our sharing on this blog. All our views are IMO as there is much that goes on at the top table we have no knowledge of. I hope to hear from you again on another thread.
Chris