Ken Clarke does an about-turn on the euro

[GiGo]

No that's URO

EURO

Economic Unbalance Ruining Others

[BoredBloke]

"It's not just holidays! You are showing typical English mentality (i.e. I only go abroad for holidays). Lots of Euros cross borders for business, work etc. Lots of people live in Holland and work in Holland etc. I know the dad of one of my friends lives in France and works in Germany."

Correct me if I am wrong, but somebody going on a business trip would tend to pay the bulk of their bills by credit card, rather than taking oodles of cash with them. When I used to travel to the states regularly I did this and only kept enough US cash to pay for taxis etc. Also, for most Brits, the only time they do go abroad is on their holidays.

So are there any other reasons for joining the Euro other than changing your cash for your holidays?

[WGAS]

Are you saying that under no circumstances, under no benefits the UK would join Euro? How can one rule out acting in the best interests of the country?

Gordon Brown is right about it -- if conditions are right, then join. The real matter for discussions is WHAT ARE THE CONDITIONS, not whether to join or not to join.

When hell freezes over would seem a suitable condition

[Not So Wise]

Correct me if I am wrong, but somebody going on a business trip would tend to pay the bulk of their bills by credit card, rather than taking oodles of cash with them.

Ever really looked at poor exchange rates and/or commsions most if not all CC charge for the conversions?

So are there any other reasons for joining the Euro other than changing your cash for your holidays?

Number one reason i would have is to start seeing fairing priceing for goods over here, companies like to defend "rip off britain" by blaming tax's and exchange rates, while generally total crap it does allow them to confuse the issue enough to persist.
Though will say the worst offenders for this i have found is the US based companies who all seem to work at an exchange rate of 1:1, something i don't think it has been at least for a decade if not more.

Overall though this particular jury is still out on if UK should change over or not.

Driving thing though it definatly should...hell should have done it 20 years ago

[AtW]

Though will say the worst offenders for this i have found is the US based companies who all seem to work at an exchange rate of 1:1, something i don't think it has been at least for a decade if not more.

I think this changed considerably -- I remember comparing prices for IT about 8 years ago and ratio was indeed 1:1, but now its more of 1.5 : 1, which is much more reasonable. Say I bought hard drive for £100, and in states it costs $180. Pretty close I'd say.

[threaded]

Not So Wise: But taxes etc. in the UK are higher than other European countries, higher than Denmark for certain.

HTH

[wendigo100]

Ever really looked at poor exchange rates and/or commsions most if not all CC charge for the conversions?

Number one reason i would have is to start seeing fairing priceing for goods over here, companies like to defend "rip off britain" by blaming tax's and exchange rates, while generally total crap it does allow them to confuse the issue enough to persist.

These problems are resolved by free markets, not by integrating your finances with your suppliers.

I've found that "fairer pricing" for goods or financial services tends to happen when competitors start doing it.

[Rebecca Loos]

Tony English, if you think that paying by credit card eliminates the conversion charges, then you haven't really thought it through, have you?

Paying by credit card enables you not to think about what really happens to your money - it doesn't mean that there is no currency conversion, nor that it reduces the number of participants in the transaction chain: local merchant, local bank, your bank, credit card company, etc. Do you think the currency exchange gets done for free?

If a Dutch holidaymaker buys something in Spain, there's no charge. If a Dutch company does business in Spain, there's no charge either.
When a British holidaymaker buys something in Spain, a fair chunk of the money goes into converting euros into pounds. This also applies when a British business buys services from Spain.

It's quite simple really. Not sure why the benefits of using a common currency does not seem obvious to you (apart from an irrational attachment to the pound - but as I said, we could all have the same currency and call it something different in every country - that way, you'd still have your "pound")

[Lucifer Box]

Not if you use a Nationwide credit card. No transaction charge and conversion done at the day's money market rate (not even the cr@ppy tourist rate).

[Rebecca Loos]

that's pretty good - don't think many banks offer that or am I wrong?