3 o'clock break [Kori Akira]

Shin Akira's Profile

Economist. Affiliated with a think tank (United States). Specializes in exchange rate policy, monetary policy, macroeconomic policy, and financial regulation. Engages with market participants, financial authorities, and policy makers to analyze exchange rate trends from multiple perspectives.

*This article is a republication/re-edition of an article from FX Strategy.com, July 2019 issue. Please note that the market information stated in the main text may differ from current market conditions.

As a child, I loved the 3 o'clock snack time. Since coming to the United States, when I go out, I mostly drink coffee during tea time. There is black tea or green tea from tea bags, but to be honest, I don't find them very tasty, so I rarely drink them. At home, filling the teapot with tea leaves, letting it thoroughly steep, and enjoying tea in my favorite cup is a happy time. When I lived in Japan, I often bought Earl Grey tea leaves. And I enjoyed drinking tea during breaks while writing papers on holidays.

On a personal note, I would like to share memories related to tea. When I was a student, visiting the professor who helped me (and still does), that professor often made tea for me (a very humane person who remains a role model for me in life). The professor used to tell me a lot about his time studying in the United Kingdom. Recently, I heard that the professor was hospitalized for surgery. I sincerely pray for his speedy recovery.

History of the Birth of the Euro

In 1969, in order to complete a single economic market in the euro area, discussions were held on expanding the European Community (EC). Then in 1979, European countries laid the foundation for currency integration by launching the European Monetary System (EMS). In 1992, George Soros-led hedge funds imposed heavy selling on the British pound and the Italian lira, forcing the United Kingdom and Italy to withdraw from the EMS.

However, with the Maastricht Treaty (*) coming into effect in 1993, political and economic integration within the European Union (EU) progressed further. In 1996, Italy, which had left the EMS, returned to the exchange rate mechanism, and in 1999, eleven countries—Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Austria, and Finland—introduced the euro, the European single currency.

Subsequently, Greece joined in 2001, Slovenia in 2007, Cyprus and Malta in 2008, Slovakia in 2009, Estonia in 2011, Latvia in 2014, and Lithuania in 2015 adopting the euro. This currency integration also reflected the cosmopolitan trend on the European mainland.

* After an EC summit in Maastricht, the United Kingdom, on December 1991, the agreement led to amendments to the EC's fundamental law, the Rome Treaty, and the adoption of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) to develop the EC into the EU, aiming for common foreign and security policy and monetary integration based on the single currency ECU (as noted in Idem).