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#21
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Polish zloty
Mike Lane wrote:
Wolfgang Schwanke wrote on May 4, 2010: Mike Lane wrote in dia.com: When Greece joined 10 years ago they claimed their inflation was below 3%, or whatever the criterion was. Even to an occasional visitor like myself this was palpably untrue - how the EU economists just accepted it, I still fail to understand. I also don't understand why the Greeks accepted it. The "one size fits all" Euro is not just a bad idea for us, it's also bad for them. The "weak" currencies of Greece, Portugal etc. were just what they needed: They could erode away their national debts through inflation, at the same time it made their exports and their tourism industries cheap. The wealthy Greeks were forced to invest into housing which caused the real estate boom in the touristy parts of the country. The Euro changed all that, now these countries are "expensive", thus they can't export as much as they used to and tourism has gone down. They can't inflate away their debts, living standards there have gone down, and the housing boom has stopped. The Euro is a political project for a dubious goal, economically it makes no sense for anyone. Some Greeks may see it like that now but I don't think many did when they originally joined. I think the perception was that adopting a strong currency would somehow transform the country from third world to modern European. The reality of course was hugely different In the days of the Drachma Greeks that I met despised their own currency, and the way it was devalued every few years. I remember in those days accidentally dropping a handful of coins on the floor in a shop. The shop-keeper laughed saying "Leave them - they're rubbish anyway". Joining the Euro-Zone was a popular move then. They correctly believed that Germany would prop up their economy. |
#22
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Polish zloty
Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:
Mike Lane wrote in dia.com: When Greece joined 10 years ago they claimed their inflation was below 3%, or whatever the criterion was. Even to an occasional visitor like myself this was palpably untrue - how the EU economists just accepted it, I still fail to understand. I also don't understand why the Greeks accepted it. The "one size fits all" Euro is not just a bad idea for us, it's also bad for them. The "weak" currencies of Greece, Portugal etc. were just what they needed: They could erode away their national debts through inflation, at the same time it made their exports and their tourism industries cheap. The wealthy Greeks were forced to invest into housing which caused the real estate boom in the touristy parts of the country. The Euro changed all that, now these countries are "expensive", thus they can't export as much as they used to and tourism has gone down. They can't inflate away their debts, living standards there have gone down, and the housing boom has stopped. The Euro is a political project for a dubious goal, economically it makes no sense for anyone. Well, for manufacturing industry it has a huge advantage in that it enables suppliers and manufacturers to make cross-border deals in a single currency without having to be concerned about a change in the exchange rate. The downside is that the low interest rates created an artificial housing boom in countries like Spain, which now has something like 1 million new housing units standing empty. T. |
#23
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Polish zloty
Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:
Tom P wrote in : Well, for manufacturing industry it has a huge advantage in that it enables suppliers and manufacturers to make cross-border deals in a single currency without having to be concerned about a change in the exchange rate. They've managed for decades with different currencies. Is that shallow advantage worth risking to bankrupt your potential customer, or ultimately yourself? In the past some companies went bankrupt because the exchange rate changed, after they had committed to a large contract. |
#24
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Polish zloty
Wolfgang Schwanke wrote:
Martin wrote in : Well, for manufacturing industry it has a huge advantage in that it enables suppliers and manufacturers to make cross-border deals in a single currency without having to be concerned about a change in the exchange rate. They've managed for decades with different currencies. Is that shallow advantage worth risking to bankrupt your potential customer, or ultimately yourself? In the past some companies went bankrupt because the exchange rate changed, after they had committed to a large contract. Alright then, but you don't need a common currency with all its now very evident disadvantages to avoid that problem. Currencies can be pegged against each other, with any desired degree of flexibility, see Bretton Woods or the previous EEC currency system which wikipedia tells me was called "Snake in a Tunnel" in English. If the system fails, or if one of the members decides it wants to leave, no problem at all, just dissolve it or let the member leave. Can be done without any harm, since the original currencies still exist and national sovereignty is never compromised. The only thing wrong with a common currency was that the membership rules weren't enforced. Federalists were in too much of a hurry. The guilder was pegged to the Dmark, but I still had to pay currency conversion charges every time I bought and sold Dmarks. I can now transfer EUR10 to a German account without paying charges of EUR7,50 to my bank. |
#25
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Polish zloty
On 2010-05-02, James Silverton wrote:
Jean wrote on Sun, 2 May 2010 14:53:52 -0500: If I remember correctly, it would be "zl" if you mean the price tag on an article. Exactly! That's what I wanted to know! But why? If you see an item marked 12.50, what other than zloty could it be? |
#26
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Polish zloty
Jesper wrote on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:43:36 +0000 (UTC):
On 2010-05-02, James Silverton wrote: Jean wrote on Sun, 2 May 2010 14:53:52 -0500: If I remember correctly, it would be "zl" if you mean the price tag on an article. Exactly! That's what I wanted to know! But why? If you see an item marked 12.50, what other than zloty could it be? That's an "answer" but not to the question of a while ago for simple information on the *Polish* abbreviation for "zloty" because the unlikely "PLN" was used by currency exchanges like Oanda.com. To tell the truth, I don't know if the Poles now use zloties or euros :-) -- James Silverton Potomac, Maryland Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not |
#27
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Polish zloty
Duh
"James Silverton" a écrit dans le message de groupe de discussion : ... Jesper wrote on Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:43:36 +0000 (UTC): On 2010-05-02, James Silverton wrote: Jean wrote on Sun, 2 May 2010 14:53:52 -0500: If I remember correctly, it would be "zl" if you mean the price tag on an article. Exactly! That's what I wanted to know! But why? If you see an item marked 12.50, what other than zloty could it be? That's an "answer" but not to the question of a while ago for simple information on the *Polish* abbreviation for "zloty" because the unlikely "PLN" was used by currency exchanges like Oanda.com. To tell the truth, I don't know if the Poles now use zloties or euros :-) -- James Silverton Potomac, Maryland Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not |
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