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British Pound predicted to reach parity with Euro Q1 2009.

Will you quit with the puns so we can get back to a franc discussion of currency?!

I'm going to go finish my dinar...
 
kastenbrust said:
The whole point was to achieve parity, its part of the economic rescue package by the Government, by cutting interest rates foreign investments in our currency and banks was reduced and the currency weakened, hence we have achieved parity with the euro, now we can keep our workforce employed during the recession because it will be cheaper to manufacture here than in the rest of europe during the recession, and when it all ends our currency will return to its normal place again with the increase in interest rates to prevent deflation.
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Correct. It is a difficult balancing act trying to create conditions conducive towards improving exports whilst curbing unnecessary imports and damaging the economy yet further by putting confidence in the national economy under question.

At the moment, the pound is noticeably undervalued against the euro and probably not far off PPP against the US dollar. To go into the euro at current exchange rates would only store up the same problems that led to Black Wednesday in the past. German reunification and self interest did for the pound in 1992, so I would not rely on any of the EU partners, least of all Germany, to pull together once currencies move towards their natural competitive rates.
 
IJ Reilly said:
You can't rupee of my dreams.
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Euro'll crazy, let me Taler you that! :D

I am self-employed, living in the UK, but being paid in Euros, because most of my work is for a German company. Which means I get a LOT more pounds now that I did just a few months ago. For 1000 Euros I used to get like £720, now it's almost £990. £270 more for each 1000 Euros without actually being paid more for my work. A 37% payrise, so to speak.

But I am on holiday in Germany at the moment and THAT is much more expensive now than it used to be. Can't wait to be back to the UK.
 
JadawinUK said:
Euro'll crazy, let me Taler you that! :D

I am self-employed, living in the UK, but being paid in Euros, because most of my work is for a German company. Which means I get a LOT more pounds now that I did just a few months ago. For 1000 Euros I used to get like £720, now it's almost £990. £270 more for each 1000 Euros without actually being paid more for my work. A 37% payrise, so to speak.

But I am on holiday in Germany at the moment and THAT is much more expensive now than it used to be. Can't wait to be back to the UK.
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It sounds like you're in the ideal situation to be in. A pay raise without an official pay raise. And a substantial one, at that!
 
garybUK said:
Are you kidding? the UK is the second largest economy in the EU (Behing Germany) it would actually relieve some pressure of Germany supporting the rest of the EU (I'm looking at you Ireland and Spain.... sponges! :p)

The UK puts THE most money into the EU and gets some of the least back!!!

And as for what we do, well sir look at your US dollars, more are traded in London than anywhere else. We are the financial powerhouse of the world, look at most of the major banks in the world (Barclays, HSBC, RBS, BOSHBOS, Lloyds)

And to ask what do we do? thats a bit rich, when the US are so protectionist about awarding contracts to their own people, you killed off our steel industry, moaned when we (BaE Systems) won contracts with your military. Look at the Eurofighter Typhoon and how well that's being received with foreign contracts (granted it's a Europe Wide effort) look at Rolls Royce making a hellova lot of Aeroplane engines and ship engines for markets around the world. Satellites in space, a lot of those are built in the UK. Parts of Airbus,
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Yes, thanks for putting me straight (I'm not from the US either). Lets see, financial industry...nationalised, steel...could not compete, air industry...can't do anything without the french/germans/spanish.

So what can the UK do? Complain about how good they used to be.... :eek:


As pointed out by another poster, the pound is being devalued. Thats good for foreign companies as the UK becomes a cheaper place to do business, its bad for people in the UK however as all imports rise in cost.

A currency being devalued is not a mark of success! And given the current state of affairs you might find a few other countries are already beating the UK at the devaluation game.
 
Here in Belgium, quite a few of my friends went christmas shopping in London. This has always been popular, but never more than this year.
Because of the low value of the pound and the new faster eurostar connection, it's a great day out, and you save money! From my home town I can be in London in 2 hours by train, I love it.
I hope the exchange rate stays like this for a while so I can go on a few UK trips after my exams.
 
trule said:
Yes, thanks for putting me straight (I'm not from the US either). Lets see, financial industry...nationalised, steel...could not compete, air industry...can't do anything without the french/germans/spanish.

So what can the UK do? Complain about how good they used to be.... :eek:


As pointed out by another poster, the pound is being devalued. Thats good for foreign companies as the UK becomes a cheaper place to do business, its bad for people in the UK however as all imports rise in cost.

A currency being devalued is not a mark of success! And given the current state of affairs you might find a few other countries are already beating the UK at the devaluation game.
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I'm not denying were up the creek without a paddle, but to say stuff like 'The UK has no place in the world' is idiotic. I agree on some of your points though, that devaluing the pound is a BAD move.... i think our pound hasn't much life in it left and we will have to move to the Euro. So please, i love my country and do not make snide remarks about it :) I know these discussions can get heated but no need to rub people up the wrong way!

Have a happy new year.
 
garybUK said:
So please, i love my country and do not make snide remarks about it :) I know these discussions can get heated but no need to rub people up the wrong way!
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I really don't see why you should expect special consideration: the Americans here have to endure almost constant piss-taking from the Europeans, Canadians and Antipodeans. Learn to live with it, after all, most of it is true...
 
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