'How will the pound fare against the Euro?' poll results/discussion

Ebenezer_Screwj

Robin00 wrote: »

Even if we *do* reach €1 = £1 (which is unlikely), it is irrelevant as to whether we can join the Euro - it is just a coincidence that the numbers happen to be the same.

In fact, if we were ever to join, the rate would need to be fixed much higher, because a weak Pound hurts European exporters too much.

We would also need to stop borrowing more than 3% of our GDP which is not exactly likely at the moment!

Anyone buying Euros at the moment should shop around as much as possible - do not use airport kiosks for cash, and do not use banks for larger transfers - better rates are available in both cases.

The remark about any possible parity link with the euro is spot on. I don't think even a Labour government would consider joining that ill-fated so-called currency, as in so many other things they just seek to frighten the people in order to make them more pliable.

Robin00

Also - Trichet said on Monday that Eurozone interest rates are unlikely to come down as much as UK and US - so further Euro strength is likely. Interbank level this morning is below €1.10 for the first time...

Justamum

nykmedia wrote: »

Is there any guarantee that UK will keep the pound? Haven't we been expecting a level 1:1:1 across £, € and $? Then they could 'invent' a new global currency using the long-discussed microchip technology integrated with the microchipped ID cards, passports, cedit/debit cards, pets, cars and anything else that could be auto-swiped as we pass. Sounds fairly plausible to me, or maybe I'm just paranoid

Well if you're paranoid then so am I because I've thought for a long time that this is the intention.

teddyco

There is another new development: Yesterday, the Federal Reserve announced that the interest rate target will be something between 0% and .25% which basically throws out 50 years of monetary policy in the USA of using interest rates to influence the economy.

If Britain follows the US model and lowers interest rates to that level, the government will no longer be able to lower interest rates to induce growth.

With interest rates so low, the UK government will have to think of other ways to tweak the economy. One complicated solution is for the Central Bank to print more money and buy up more government debt.

This means that the traditional ways of using interest rates to value currencies are gone. Instead it will become a lot more complicated as the USA and UK governments flood the markets with more printed currency.

We see how the economic models are changing.....

deptfreemoneytart

Now is the time to change Britain to the Euro. It's got to happen some time and if the rate is the same the shop keepers and supermarkets won't be able to stich us up like they did in 1971 when we changed to Decimal. It will also be easier for the old and mathmatically challenged to cope with if the change is 1 for 1.

movilogo

Now is the time to change Britain to the Euro

It's the worst time to join Euro! Imagine, 6 months back £1 = €1.40. So, assuming your salary is £1000, it was worth €1400.

But now £1 = €1, so your salary is worth €1000 only. Thus you lost €400.

Also, joining to Euro means Bank of England can no longer control interest rate as it will be decided by European Central Bank. So, people with tracker mortgage will have very tough time.

I just don't understand why some people are so crazy about joining Euro.

So, joining isn't simple. And it is not good to not be able to control country's economy directly.

nomoneytoday

olddogbreath wrote: »

All this euro stuff, is down to interest rates. Those who have savings are being penalised for having them with the low rates. No one will invest in Britain and as such the pound goes down.

euro interest rates are on the way down too, as are USD rates - they are currently paying 10-50bps on deposit !

nomoneytoday

wit40iwtwan wrote: »

Here is a question - I need to pay for timeshare management fee in Euros before the end of January 2009 - should I pay the fee now or see what happens with the Euro??

It's up to you as no one knows - if we did we would be multi billionaires...

nomoneytoday

deptfreemoneytart wrote: »

Now is the time to change Britain to the Euro. It's got to happen some time and if the rate is the same the shop keepers and supermarkets won't be able to stich us up like they did in 1971 when we changed to Decimal. It will also be easier for the old and mathmatically challenged to cope with if the change is 1 for 1.

Don't think so as anything imported from the eurozone will cost more...

nomoneytoday

[pedant mode on]
It's a euro not a Euro. AFAIK as part of joining the currency the French insisted on keeping the small "e"