Looking at the continental European economies, Clarke said that the preparation for a single currency led them to adopt sound macroeconomic policies. Specifically, they reduced their budget deficits and tamed inflation. Now, however, supply-side changes, particularly in labor markets, are necessary to increase growth and to convert higher growth into job creation. In Clarke's view, the famous divide within the Conservative Party over whether or not to adopt the euro hinges on a disagreement over whether adoption of the euro is likely to stimulate those supply-side policies in continental Europe or not. Clarke is among those who believe it will.
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Marriage is universal. In all human societies it is the normal basis for the relations between adult men and women. And although in some cultures polygyny is endorsed, the great majority of marriages are monogamous. Those unions constitute a socially supported system of enduring, mutual obligation between a man and a woman. In that respect, humans differ from most species.