Nigel Stanley wrote: > On 26/11/2008, David Cragg > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> How come the pound is going down compared to the dollar and the >> Euro. If we are all in it together then shouldn't all currencys >> slip. Let's hope they are genius's at #s10/11 but I get the >> impression that they ain't. Let's hope they don't Argentina us! >> > > This is all getting very off-topic, but many people think the pound > has been significantly over-valued because of the over-dominance of > financial services in the economy since Mrs Thatcher's city big bang > in 1987. This has not been helped by government and Bank of England > wanting an over-valued pound to bear down on inflation - one reason > why our interest rates are often higher than elsewhere. > > What we have seen in recent weeks is a sensible re-alignment in > currency values. It is not an Argentina style collapse, and while > there will be some further movements up and down I doubt they will be > that big. > > It will makes imports more expensive (perhaps discouraging some of the > rampant consumerism that Steve dislikes) but exports cheaper. And > while I like my imported goods and foreign holidays as much as > anybody, a rebalancing of the economy away from financial services and > imports is a good thing in the long term. > > So in a desperate attempt to bring it all back on topic, those Polish > and Chinese made narrow-boats may now look a bit less attractive.
..and we will be spending more time in the UK? (personally I thought this stayed amazingly on-topic!) -- Neil Arlidge - NB Earnest (visiting Mumbai and Bankok next spring!) Follow the travels of TNC, now in Ireland http://www.tuesdaynightclub.co.uk/tour.html
