# The Euro.



## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Just been sent this:



You got that right Mr Blackadder !!!!



This is the simplest and probably the most sensible explanation ever to see the light of day.

Baldrick: "What I want to know sir, is before there was a Euro there were lots of different types of money that different people used. And now there's only one type of money that the foreign people use. And what I want to know is, how did we get from one state of affairs to the other state of affairs"

Blackadder: "Baldrick. Do you mean, how did the Euro start?"

Baldrick: "Yes sir"

Blackadder: "Well, you see Baldrick, back in the 1980's there were many different countries all running their own finances and using different types of money. On one side you had the major economies of France, Belgium, Holland and Germany, and on the other, the weaker nations of Spain, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Portugal . They got together and decided that it would be much easier for everyone if they could all use the same money, have one Central Bank, and belong to one large club where everyone would be happy. This meant that there could never be a situation whereby financial meltdown would lead to social unrest, wars and crises".

Baldrick: "But this is sort of a crisis, isn't it sir".

Blackadder: "That's right Baldrick. You see, there was only one slight flaw with the plan".

Baldrick: "What was that then sir?"


Blackadder: "It was bollo*ks"


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## javea (Jun 8, 2007)

Many a true word spoken in jest!


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## satco (Jan 21, 2012)

well , at least 50% of the elder generation in Germany is desperately
missing the good old German Mark currency. 
We still calculate prices in German Mark ( 1 liter diesel costs Euro 1.60 this equals 3.20 former German Marks) .
I would have never ever taken into consideration to buy a freaking liter diesel at this price....

at that ancient time ( before year 2002) the exchange rate for 1 british pound was approx. 2.40 German Marks ...... you see the point ??? nothing really happened to exchange rates

that brings me to a point where I say : " Bullsh*t"

Jan


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## camallison (Jul 15, 2009)

I first started visiting Germany in 1971 and the exchange rate was then 11DM/£. During that year, it fell to 8DM/£ which everyone thought was catastrophic although it made our exports boom. Then, in 1982, I went to live in Germany at 4.2DM/£ and left in 1988 at 2.7DM/£.

Why haven't we exported more to Germany instead of importing their cars and other things I ask myself.

Colin


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I used to import a lot from The Netherlands, started at over 8 gilders to the pound and couldn't make it pay any more when it got to around 3, Alan.


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## camallison (Jul 15, 2009)

The only good thing for us was that we (my own company) had money earned in Germany and on deposit in Germany from the days when it was 8DM/£ and cashed it in as £s in 1988. I wasn't bothered how much it had gained in interest, only the growth due to currency movement. Since it was capital movement, only the interest was taxable in the UK, not the gain!

Not that I would advise anyone trying that in these days of uncertainty.

Colin


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## Penquin (Oct 15, 2007)

It is perhaps a sign of the times (and the uncertainty) that many places in France still display the price of XYZ euros as well as ABC French Franks where ABC is approximately 10x the number of XYZ.......

I wonder whether we will ever see the return of such "good times"?

Sadly, we cannot even send a gunboat now to make "those damned johny foreigners" see sense (we don't have any left and will only have a new supply after about 2016 or so.........

Rule Britania cannot really work now can it? ('cos such a thing would upset too many minority groups...... :? 8O  )

Dave :lol:


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