Did Sweden Make A Good Choice?

So, now that Sweden has voted "no" on the Euro referendum, the question arises: what price will there be for sovereignty?

The EU ministers have already begun their campaign of disapproving scowls in Sweden's general direction. They have already begun the standard bully tactic of making implied threats about the relevance of Sweden in the EU. In short, the EU has begun their normal process of dithering about, making lots of noise, while accomplishing nothing.

It's pretty obvious to just about anyone who has paid any attention to the Eurozone financial "challenges" recently, that the big countries - like France and Germany, in particular - view the Euro currency controls as mere inconveniences to their fiscal policy. But God help a Luxembourg or Norway or Ireland should they need to "bend" the rules to ensure their national fiscal stability.

I believe that the EU is showing itself to be more and more a power and control grab by the big nations. There is a definite two tiered structure forming in the EU: France and Germany (with Belgium tagging along) constitute the top tier - where rules are set in stone only for others. The rest of the EU countries are rapidly becoming second class citizens in their own nation. Think I'm wrong? Look at the financial gyrations that Greece had to go through to gain admittance to the Euro club, only so that France and Germany could flaunt those very same rules in the name of economic stability.

So what price does Sweden pay for their "No?"

They might lose some decision making influence? Did they ever really have any, other than the token influence that the Franco-German axis would throw them? They might not be able to fully participate in the Euroland market? Sounds to me like codespeak for they won't be able to fully subsidize Franco-German largesse. Just how bad is the "No?"

...Sweden's crown rallied from early falls on relief after a year's uncertainty.

"Traders are again looking at fundamentals -- the foreign trade surplus, strong public finances, higher interest rates and prospects of economic growth faster than in the euro-zone," said Peter Kaplan, economist at ABN AMRO.

Sounds like a much better deal to me. Sweden's economy, while heavily statist, is at least sound.

The EU, for all its high ideals, in becoming a textbook study in elitist governance. If you're not French or German, you are one of the great unenlightened masses who need guidance from the true leaders, as France and Germany always have been (at least in their minds). Is the vote of a Greek or a Swede or a Spaniard or even (for the moment) a Briton worth as much in the EU as that of a Frenchman or a German? In theory yes; in practice - not a chance.

And therein lies the crux of the EU problem: it's a great theory, but a terrible practice.

The Swedes made the right choice. They stayed Swedish instead of becoming Euro-Swedes.