I’ll be honest. I only care about this because of the tourism factor: “Some investors now say the euro could fall to the point where it is on equal footing with the U.S. dollar for the first time since it climbed above the buck in late 2002.” Cheap euros mean a better time for me the next time I get to Europe. Not that I know when I’m getting to Europe again; kids, you understand.
Alas*, the Brits kept the pound, which means that this will have zero effect on my usual foreign purchases (British roleplaying game materials). Seriously, this blog post is all about what it means to me. Europe could go into ludicrous speed hyper-inflation and I wouldn’t care unless I suddenly took up paper mache as a hobby and thus needed a good source of waste paper…
Via Drudge.
Moe Lane
*For given values of ‘alas,’ and those values are probably not shared by the British themselves.
I go to Spain on fairly regular occasion, so this is good news, especially because there is a certain…lag…in the recalculation of the federal government’s Per Diem rates, which are currently $163/hotel and $106/meals and incidentals. Per day. My trips are usually 2 weeks at a time. My last trip was $1.18/1 Euro, which was much nicer than the $1.25 two months ago, or $1.53 a few years ago.
Don’t go to Europe, it’s not safe. Go to Japan! Safe (On act of terrorism, and it was gimp), they have a RailPass (Do need to get it before you go!) and you can get a room in Tokyo for about $500 for the Month http://www.tokyoroomfinder.com/ Lots of parks for the kids, lots of bath houses for you and the missus.
My ancestors sensibly fled Europe at their earliest opportunities.
I fail to understand the appeal of returning, for any reason.
.
As for Japan, I wasn’t a fan of Tokyo. But then, I don’t like cities. It was easy to get around in, and the people were nice and helpful. Just realize that any souvenir shirts you buy are sized for pygmies. I did enjoy seeing things farther afield. (BTW, Mt. Fuji looked exactly like I’d always pictured Erebor, right down the the shelf on one side.) Be prepared for culture hock, though. The Shinto/Bushido assumptions underlying much of life are in many ways diametrically opposed to the Christian/Chivalry assumptions you’re used to. (And if you go to Okinawa, things get weird. They’ve got a bit of a cultural inferiority complex going on that makes them want to be more Japanese than the Japanese, and militant Buddhists. All while having a chip on their shoulder about their own traditions. But the Pacific thereabouts is pretty enough to bring a tear to your eye.)
That, sir, is why you get the JR Railpass. You can spend weeks just trying out the various hot springs…..
I’m considering retiring there, if only part time. Honestly, if I have to live in a socialist country, I might as well live in one where the food and wine are good.
As for Japan, it’s fun for a few days, but eventually you get tired of chasing your food around the table.
I’ll be in Italy next week, so I’m loving it…
Um, Moe, have you looked at the Dollar – Pound exchange rate recently? The UK’s main trading partners are all on the Euro, hammering those economies hurts the UK.