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Did the weak pound affect you?

IeuanF

In the short term, the weak pound should effect us Brits positively. It means that it's much cheaper for those foreign types to buy our products.

But there could possibly be a J-curve effect.

Reply 21

1Mperios

probably they gonna switch the pound in euro?

Reply 22

LozengeC

9

1Mperios

probably they gonna switch the pound in euro?

I guess that would make things more stable, but would it really be of benefit? Because as the pound is seperate, and generally worth more than euros then surely we might lose out a little in the switch?

Reply 23

TruckBear

15

LozengeC

I guess that would make things more stable, but would it really be of benefit? Because as the pound is seperate, and generally worth more than euros then surely we might lose out a little in the switch?

What do you mean by "lose out a little"? If we did switch, not everything that was previously worth £1 would be suddenly worth €1. It'd be done at an agreed exchange rate.

The main issues relating to shifting over are to do with relinquishing control of monetary policy (i.e. the Bank of England base rate) and the effect it'd have on trade.

Reply 24

LozengeC

9

IeuanF

What do you mean by "lose out a little"? If we did switch, not everything that was previously worth £1 would be suddenly worth €1. It'd be done at an agreed exchange rate.

The main issues relating to shifting over are to do with relinquishing control of monetary policy (i.e. the Bank of England base rate) and the effect it'd have on trade.

I meant we'd lose out a little in out power. :p:

The pound seems to be quite a respected currency, and worth a lot. Also lots of people see our currency as a part of our national identity, and would miss it in that regards. Plus it would cost money to change the currency in new printing pressed, distribution, changing machines etc. :p:

Reply 25

Economist1

13

We are not going to change to the Euro. Brown is against it. He set the criteria for the five economic tests, which are so stringent that I don't forseeably see all of them being passed in the next decade even at the earliest. The Conservatives are also against the idea.

Furthermore in order for Britain to join the Euro, the clauses of the Masstricht Treaty would have to be renegotiated. I think that after the fiasco caused by the Lisbon Treaty, national leaders would rather not open up another can of worms.

Reply 26

TruckBear

15

LozengeC

I meant we'd lose out a little in out power. :p:

The pound seems to be quite a respected currency, and worth a lot. Also lots of people see our currency as a part of our national identity, and would miss it in that regards. Plus it would cost money to change the currency in new printing pressed, distribution, changing machines etc. :p:

We would lose a bit of control in relation to monetary policy - and that is one of the biggest objections.

When it comes to the national identity shizzle - I think it'd be much more healthy for the UK to have a constant reminder in their pocket of how integrated into Europe we've became. We rely on Europe for so much of our trade - most people I know don't really appreciate just how much the EU (or at least the aspects of it that used to be called the EEC) has benefited us.

There would be an initial outlay to change over - but I don't think it'd be significant in the long run.

Reply 27

Economist1

13

Additinally, the Euro area economy would have to significantly outperform the British economy in the next few years for the Euro to become an attractive proposition. Over the last decade, Britain enjoyed lower unemployment than the Eurozone but broadly had the same rate of inflation - other than on grounds of stability and ease of trade, the arguments in favour of the Euro were not great.

Reply 28

TruckBear

15

Economist1

We are not going to change to the Euro. Brown is against it. He set the criteria for the five economic tests, which are so stringent that I don't forseeably see all of them being passed in the next decade even at the earliest. The Conservatives are also against the idea.

Furthermore in order for Britain to join the Euro, the clauses of the Masstricht Treaty would have to be renegotiated. I think that after the fiasco caused by the Lisbon Treaty, national leaders would rather not open up another can of worms.

And yes, it isn't going to happen any time soon.

I suspect that one of the main reasons lies in the politics of it all - the people of Britain would kick up a mighty fuss. It's politically expedient for Brown to have set those bars so high - he can claim that he's doing the right thing for the good of the economy whilst at the same time not annoying the Daily Mail.

Reply 29

Puma

15

I will be holidaying in 2008 in Spain and so I will be effected/ass raped.

Reply 30

EssexDan86

17

Joining the Euro wouldn't be a good for consumers - in Ireland all the retailers upped their prices in the confusion, and the same would happen here.

Reply 31

Narev

1

My school fees are now effectively cheaper :smile:

Reply 32

crema

9

I'm loving the weak pound. Lately been using just my european debit cards and been getting so much more value for my measly cents.

Reply 33

Economist1

13

EssexDan86

Joining the Euro wouldn't be a good for consumers - in Ireland all the retailers upped their prices in the confusion, and the same would happen here.

But surely that phenomenon is just short-term disequilibrium? When retailers realise that they are unable to clear their stocks, won't there be an incentive to lower the price?

Sure there are many short-term obstacles that need to be overcome, but joining the Euro may be in the long-term interests of the countru.

Reply 34

emmalive

i went to NY recently. last time i went £1=$2, this time £1=$1.40...it sucked!! i planned to do loads of shopping, but it was just too expensive=(

Reply 35

Eien

16

It's been awful in Japan since the yen is quite strong - I mean, before £20 meant 4000yen, now it only gives me 2780 yen! However, if things don't change by the time I come back to the UK I'll get a lot of pounds for my Yen...

Reply 36

DarkWhite

17

Hasn't affected me. My mate's Dad works as a project manager for a construction company and is currently based in Dubai. So far, things are playing into his hands lol

Reply 37

LozengeC

9

emmalive

i went to NY recently. last time i went £1=$2, this time £1=$1.40...it sucked!! i planned to do loads of shopping, but it was just too expensive=(

One of my UKCAT questions was related to that, I just remembered! Hehe. :smile:

Reply 38

cru_jo0

2

I wanted to buy left 4 dead (a game) through steam (an americain based distribution network for games.) so i was paying in dollars, my freind bough it a while back and paid around £30 when i tired it had risen to £36 >.<

Reply 39

WoWZa

14

IeuanF

You wouldn't have to buy houses - just invest in the currency itself. Although the ability to get a mortgage would mean you might be able to invest more that way. Of course with the housing market crashing over there you wouldn't be able to sell it at a similar level, though.

In the short term, the weak pound should effect us Brits positively. It means that it's much cheaper for those foreign types to buy our products. However, it's possible that companies from abroad will take it as a sign that Britain is not a good place to invest and so won't. That wouldn't be so clever.

When it comes to a direct effect upon my person - holidays cost more, innit.

Sounds like an interesting idea. So you could buy x USD for x GBP and then just exchange them back again when the exchange rates change?

Did the weak pound affect you?

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