WeX Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 But I do give two hoots at being called a pissant for no good reason, WeX. fair point. I was actually only talking about the French Government, but failed to elaborate. I will edit now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 fair point. I will edit nowThank you kindly Both the Czech government and Hungary yesterday said they would follow David Cameron and refuse to sign the new treaty unless Germans demands to harmonise Eurozone tax rates are dropped....as expected. Re. Barouin and the others' rants, that's just toys flying out of the pram because Cameron didn't play ball. Literally, and not much else to it. Tough s**t. There's little to no chance of GB losing its AAA before France and Germany: the elephant in the room they have all conveniently ignored in their populist rants, is all their major banks' level of exposure to the €-zone problems (€-zone PIIGS to begin with). As I understand things (ho-hum ), GB banks are much less exposed to those problems to begin with, never mind the BoE as shackled to the Big EU Bailout thingy as the French and German national banks are. Considering the sheer scale of the problem, that has a BIG bearing on their ratings. I mean, it's not as if GB wouldn't lend £30bn to help that ungrateful lot out...it's just that GB would be the only one actually putting in the pot so far, and the Gvt can obviously spot a turkey a mile off: It also emerged yesterday that plans to funnel another 200 billion euros -- £120 billion – to the International Monetary Fund to help struggling Eurozone countries was yet another phantom rescue effort. EU officials admitted that the plan was not backed up with real money and that the 200 billion euro sum was simply ‘intended to reassure the markets but had no substance behind it’. <...> Britain has refused to pay the £30 billion envisaged under the plan because the Eurozone has still failed to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Why don't euro join the £? From the mouths of babes... You've accidentally posed a very interesting question. Right now the £ has a much more secure future than the €. Not to put too fine a point on it, the BoE can print £'s if push comes to shove. That's why UK bonds are yielding 2.0 - 2.2% and our continental cousins have another point on top. The £ is a place of safety for investors. As an aside, once they have £'s under their belt they are more likely to respend them in £'s on redemption. Since there is only one nation where you can spend £'s without currency fees... well you get the rest. So back to your question: Why don't euro join the £? It's a good question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 Thank you kindly ...as expected. Re. Barouin and the others' rants, that's just toys flying out of the pram because Cameron didn't play ball. Literally, and not much else to it. Tough s**t. There's little to no chance of GB losing its AAA before France and Germany: the elephant in the room they have all conveniently ignored in their populist rants, is all their major banks' level of exposure to the €-zone problems (€-zone PIIGS to begin with). As I understand things (ho-hum ), GB banks are much less exposed to those problems to begin with, never mind the BoE as shackled to the Big EU Bailout thingy as the French and German national banks are. I mean, it's not as if GB wouldn't lend £30bn to help that ungrateful lot out...it's just that GB would be the only one actually putting in the pot so far, and the Gvt can obviously spot a turkey a mile off: It's fun when predictions bear fruit, even when it was so blindingly obvious. Sweden and Poland will be next I reckon, which will rather put Alex Salmond's separatist plans on the bonfire of dreams. Austria might not too far behind - they remember that Germany has a habit of getting them up to their neck in schnitzel. Russia has thrown in £10bn too, but I understand that their price was dropping European visa restrictions for Russian citizens. It's all falling apart quite quite quickly. At this rate Merkel and Sarkozy will be fighting to keep their seats in their domestic halls of power, never mind those of Brussels. It looks like Cameron has played a blinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 At this rate Merkel and Sarkozy will be fighting to keep their seats in their domestic halls of power, never mind those of Brussels.Sarkozy is a sure-fire goner at the next GE, which is just around the corner. The centre-left will be getting in (continuing the perennial left/right/left/right/etc. cycle, same as in the UK), and I expect them to be pretty much on par with NuLab governance style (left rethoric, right-ish policies). The big unknown is how the FN is going to do - Marine LePen is getting very popular. Worryingly so. It looks like Cameron has played a blinder.Just common sense (at a national scale/in a national interest context), but there was certainly some political guile. I'm still not convinced it was not accidental, though (in terms of how big a "blinder" he played). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I1L2T3 Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 their head of the french central bank called for the UK to be stripped of our AAA credit rating. Pretty outrageous for one government to try and stick the knife in to another like that. But the political stakes are high as Sarkozy is reported to have said: “IF WE LOSE THE TRIPLE A, I’M DEAD” The socialist candidate in the forthcoming French election has pledged to immediately renegotiate the fiscal pact if he wins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Roy Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 But I do give two hoots at being called a pissant for no good reason, WeX. So you don't mind being called a cheese eating surrender monkey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L00b Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 So you don't mind being called a cheese eating surrender monkey?As the grandson of a non-surrendering WWII officer, dispossed and displaced when demob'd in 40, then decorated resistant, very much so. But it's a common enough jibe on here (and elsewhere), not worth the aggro of 'fighting it off'. You can't change bigoted/xenophobic attitudes with a post or two on a public forum. If people educated themselves a bit further than picking the same tired clichés from rabble-rousing red tops and the like, they'd soon realise a bit more truth (or, considering the cliché, the untruth indeed) about the matter. But hey and all that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f0rd Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 Are you proud of Cameron for keeping us out of the new Euro club? Not proud, he should have done it, but not for the reasons he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyofborg Posted December 16, 2011 Share Posted December 16, 2011 I don't want them telling the city what to do any more than you do. why not? most seem to acknowledge the need for a different regulatory framework than we have now, yet the government seems reluctant to do anything, so if the eu doesn't do it then who will? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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