An amero for your thoughts: if America adopted a single currency (e.g., the "amero") with Canada and Mexico, we would no longer control our own monetary policy.(SPECIAL REPORT: AMERO)

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On May 16, 2002, then-Mexican President Vicente Fox gave a speech in Madrid, Spain, in which he stated:

 
   Eventually, our long-range objective is to 
   establish with the United States, but also 
   with Canada, our other regional partner, 
   an ensemble of connections and institutions 
   similar to those created by the European 
   Union.... 
 
      The new framework we wish to construct 
   is inspired in the example of the 
   European Union. 

Part of the framework that fostered the creation of the European Union (EU) was an institution called the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). The implementation of the EMU culminated with the adoption of the euro on January 1, 1999 as the official currency of 11 EU member states.

Even before Fox's Madrid speech, the example of the EU was already inspiring some academics to consider the creation of a North American Monetary Union. In a 1999 paper entitled, "The Case for the Amero: The Economics and Politics of a North American Monetary Union," Canadian economist Herbert G. Grubel explained his ideas for creating a North American regional currency, and coined the term "amero." On the U.S. side of the border, Robert Pastor, a noted political scientist and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is leading the charge for adopting a North American currency. In his 2001 book, Toward a North American Community, Pastor speaks approvingly of the concept of the amero, claiming that "in the long term, the amero is in the best interests of all three countries."

It is clear that those who favor "an ensemble of connections and institutions" along the lines of the EU feel that a monetary union is essential. Their main argument is that it would facilitate financial transactions.

Adopting the amero would have definite disadvantages, however. It would come with the same loss of sovereignty that the introduction ...