Britain & Canada & their Large Neighboring Monetary Unions

A traveller who has visited both Britain and Canada will no doubt have noted that both Britain and Canada share the same head of state on their banknotes and coins: Queen Elizabeth II. Of course, though the Queen is an important symbolic figure to the United Kingdom (UK), the Queen plays a less prominent role in the Canadian national identity. Yet one should not underestimate her importance. Besides this observation there are a number of more substantial similarities that these two countries share. They are both located next door to a neighbouring monetary union that has a leading currency that has been adopted by other countries in an attempt to increase their economic prosperity. Britain is confronted with the European Union (EU) and its Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) or the ''eurozone'' an area of twelve EU Member States in which the Euro is the single currency. Canada''s neighbour to the south is the United States of America (US) that has the world''s leading currency which has been adopted by other states in the region and beyond. One can differ in opinion over whether the US is a monetary union in the conventional sense, but there is no doubt that the US is a currency union, one of its many features as a federal state. Furthermore, there have been talks about creating an actual North American Monetary Union (NAMU) which would expand the use of the dollar into Canada and Mexico. At a time in which the discussion revolves around the future of (smaller) national currencies, this special issue looks at the question of monetary integration for the cases of Britain and Canada. This book adopts a comparative, multi- and interdisciplinary perspective on these matters.