????“拉脫維亞是一個仍然沒有完全擺脫過去陰影的小國——它曾被俄羅斯人占領，”德州農工大學（Texas A&M University）經濟學教授加布里埃爾?馬林?桑頓稱。“它們更偏向于脫俄入歐。”加入歐元區正是實現這個目的的一條途徑。

????拉脫維亞目前的經濟可能向好，但問題仍然存在，比如拉脫維亞的銀行業問題。全國約有一半的存款屬于非居民存款，當中多數來自俄羅斯、白俄羅斯、烏茲別克斯坦和其他一些前蘇聯國家的儲戶，因為這些人覺得把錢存在拉脫維亞要比存在自己國內安全些。而且，許多拉脫維亞民眾處于失業狀態，全國失業率為12.8%，略高于歐元區的平均水平12.2%。

????加入歐元區將對拉脫維亞形成有效制約，令其無法獨立調控本國經濟。例如，一旦經濟狀況出現不利的情況，該國將無法自行設定國內利率。瑞德學院（Reed College）的經濟學教授金?克勞辛稱，這已經成為歐元區邊緣國家如今所面臨的問題。

????“這就好比讓美國征求日本和加拿大能否同意它降息一樣，失去了自主決策權，”克勞辛補充說。“因此拉脫維亞應當更加謹慎行事，除非它確信自己不會淪落為下一個希臘或者西班牙。”

????盡管拉脫維亞政府非常迫切地希望加入歐元區，但它對這一點并沒有十足的把握，而許多拉脫維亞人也并不看好加入歐盟。民意調查顯示，大概只有三成的拉脫維亞人支持加入歐元區。最終到底誰對誰錯呢？（財富中文網）

????譯者：默默

????"Latvia is a small country still haunted by its past -- in this case, the Russian occupation," says Gabriela Marin Thornton, economics professor at Texas A&M University. "They prefer to be strongly tied to the West." And entry into the eurozone is one way of doing that.

????Latvia's economy might be doing OK now, but there are still issues. Latvia's banks are a concern. About half of all deposits represent non-resident deposits, much of them from Russia, Balarus, Uzbekistan, and other countries of the former Soviet Union. This is because they feel parking their money in Latvia is safer than at home. What's more, many in Latvia are jobless. Its unemployment rate is 12.8%, slightly above the eurozone average of 12.2%.

????Joining the eurozone would effectively keep Latvia from independently controlling its economy -- for instance, setting its own interest rates -- if things take a turn for the worse. Such have been among the problems of the eurozone's peripheral countries, says Kim Clausing, economics professor at Reed College.

????"It's as if the U.S. had to ask Japan and Canada if it could lower interest rates," Clausing adds. "Latvia should be more cautious until they're convinced they're not going to be the next Greece or Spain."

????While the government of Latvia doesn't seem very convinced given they seem so eager to join, many of its citizens aren't as excited about the euro -- polls show only about one-third of Latvians favor adopting the currency. In the end, who will be right?