Will the pound be dissolved and will we enter the Euro ?

[_V_]

From grovelling to the IMF as the "sick man of Europe" in the late seventies (you won't remember our 25% inflation), to the second biggest (and solvent) economy by the late eighties.

I blame Thatcher.

[AtW]

From grovelling to the IMF as the "sick man of Europe" in the late seventies (you won't remember our 25% inflation), to the second biggest (and solvent) economy by the late eighties.

No, you did a very bad job - destroyed manufacturing while France/Germany kept it, and moved to finance bulltuliping that has now crashed like a house of cards.

I remember inflation of 2100%, so you won't scare me with 25% (which is probably the real inflation for the last 12 months).

[BrilloPad]

No, you did a very bad job - destroyed manufacturing while France/Germany kept it, and moved to finance bulltuliping that has now crashed like a house of cards.

Dont you have any SKA code to f**k up?

[AtW]

Dont you have any SKA code to f**k up?

I just did - and it stopped working, some pointers reading up wrong data!

[Doggy Styles]

No, you did a very bad job - destroyed manufacturing while France/Germany kept it, and moved to finance bulltuliping that has now crashed like a house of cards.

Oh dear, you haven't got a clue, have you. We didn't destroy manufacturing, just stopped propping up bad manufacturers like British Leyland, who made bad cars that no-one wanted to buy.

I remember inflation of 2100%, so you won't scare me with 25% (which is probably the real inflation for the last 12 months).

2100% in a third world country is one thing, the year of 25% is the highest it's been here since WW2.

[BrilloPad]

Oh dear, you haven't got a clue, have you. We didn't destroy manufacturing, just stopped propping up bad manufacturers like British Leyland, who made bad cars that no-one wanted to buy.2100% in a third world country is one thing, the year of 25% is the highest it's been here since WW2.

I can't believe you disagree with atw's economic theories.

[Doggy Styles]

I can't believe you disagree with atw's economic theories.

I realise I should have asked you first...

[Flashman]

I can't help thinking that if the £ sinks too low, the government or the IMF may step in to peg it to a fixed exchange rate and stop it floating.

Once this happens I'm pretty much sure you'll be seeing Gordon Brown soon on the T.V. telling us how this will be 'good' for Britain to join the Euro.

In the 'good' sense that we will still have a monatery system and he will still be in power so 'good' for him he will mean.

When we switch to the Euro we will get ripped off again in rip off Britain with unfair price conversions to Euro (which happened when Spain converted to the Euro from the Peseta). So in rip off Britain we will get ripped off again.

and btw wages will remain frozen and contract rates may drop again.

I just cannot help thinking that this is one plausible scenario.

Discuss.

And how exactly would joining the Euro help?

The main reason Britain came out of the recession of the early 1990s was leaving the Exchange Rate Mechanism. After taking control of our currency again we could devalue our currency and cut interest rates. hence boosting economic recovery.

Just look a Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland etc the list goes on and on. All in the Eurozone and all up the creek without a proverbial barrel.

And if the Germans get fed up and stop bailing them out....

[BrilloPad]

I realise I should have asked you first...

I think you can ask anyone around here. atw is a lovely chap : and we all wish him well with SKA. But his economic theories are suspect.

I often wonder if he has advised Alistair Darling.....

[BrilloPad]

And how exactly would joining the Euro help?

The main reason Britain came out of the recession of the early 1990s was that we could devalue our currency and cut interest rates.

Just look a Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland etc the list goes on and on. All up the creek without a barrel.

And if the Germans get fed up and stop bailing them out....

This is the point. West Germans bailed out East Germans : and now Southern EU states. Why would they want to bail out us too? Unless they we become part of the fourth reich......