Heartland

Not that I know very much about it, but I was watching the news a few minutes ago, and checked on xe.com's converter, this has happened:



What sort of effects will this have?

Yeah, I've seen this. It's not inflation in the UK to blame (that would make the pound worth less against other currencies) but a stronger economy here (relatively)

Means dirt cheap DVDs CDs and whatnot..

(Just be sure to keep your orders below the $50/$100 mark to avoid customs - or get the seller to mark it as a "GIFT"... )

It just makes me feel very patriotic that our currency is so strong!

Same old, same old, really. The public can buy cheaper American goods, as can businesses, probably will make a few US companies vulnerable to UK takeovers, too. Bad side is UK products and services become more expensive to US consumers, meaning less goods sold, and less tourists spending money here.
So if you're involved in manufacturing(whats left of it), or the tourist trade, not so good news.
Of course, the current inflation rate is without house-prices taken into account(for some reason, I have no idea why), if they were, the rate would probably be close to about 5%. Whoever takes over as Chancellor will not be thanking Mr Brown for it, I think.

robertzombie wrote:It just makes me feel very patriotic that our currency is so strong!

Better not do that, it's no good really, because as DeWinter says it's harder to export goods that way.

On the other hand, it's mainly the US that's in trouble, € vs $ has been steady at about 1.5 the last half year or so, which is way too high for my liking too.

Still, it's rather cyclical. Because both Euro and Pounds (and their production too) are overly expensive, both economies will decline over time so their respective prices vs Dollar will go down too, etc, etc.

Probably the link between RMB's basket and USD (way too much), EUR (bit less) and GBP (even less) could be an influence too. Even more so as it seems it's no longer the Fed domineering the world's economies through their interest rates but a much stronger influence of China's Central Bank

Obviousman wrote: € vs $ has been steady at about 1.5 the last half year

Well, it's more like 1.3x, currently 1.35. Though with the US deficit going as it is, 1.50 might not be that far off.

nowayjose wrote:

Obviousman wrote: € vs $ has been steady at about 1.5 the last half year

Well, it's more like 1.3x, currently 1.35. Though with the US deficit going as it is, 1.50 might not be that far off.

Ah yes, was thinking GBP sorry (and that's the other way round even). Hope it won't get to 1.5, that'd be disastrous I reckon