thoughts on the £
 

looks like the GBP Is slowly returning to its former glory! Any thoughts on the outlook? I'm thinking £1-$1.90 CAD by April. Mainly due to weak oil prices.

Re: thoughts on the £
 

I'll take that at some point next year based on the BOE starting to raise interest rates.

Also the collapse of the Rouble has accelerated the Russian wealthy pumping money in the UK.

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With my UK pensions due to start in mid-2015, I am thinking a return to the heady days of 2.40 would be very nice. Realistically, I'm guessing much the same as it is now.

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When I was a boy £1 was US$4.80 ! What happened ? Did they lose the Empire ? Who do I complain to ?

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If only ..........

Re: thoughts on the £
 

I don't think the pound will ever fully recover,the population has increased too much against employment levels,there is always going to be a huge unemployment problem in the UK with people claiming benefits.
The EU nosedive didn't help,and as more of the poorer countries join it's gonna keep fluctuating.
If the politicians had spent some time working out plans and details instead of thinking about seats on the EU parliament and those nice EU pensions they will be claiming things may not have turned out so bad for the tax payers.

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Hmmm..... sounds like the UKIP retoric :unsure:

I have never understood why people who dislike the idea of a federal europe ..leave to live in Canda the other big federal system ...?

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Nothing to do with UKIP,its simple facts,the UK government along with the other EU governments never properly thought through the entire fiasco.
People leave Europe for Canada to get away from the hopelessness of the place amongst other reasons.
Canada is NOTHING like the EU so attempting to compare the 2 is pretty futile wouldn't you say Mike,after all everything is so much cheaper in the UK is it not Mike?

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People don't like change being forced upon them. When someone decides to move country, you accept all that comes, warts and all. What the EU BRINGS(good and bad) is often forced upon the citizens of UK, so the comparison is not quite the same. The UK is doing ok at present, for how long that will continues I don't know, but it will turn around, the debt will have to paid and the resource will disappear, the fortunes of Canada will turn around, it has gas oil and mining. To be fair, it has much in resources, that ultimately will be the factor that makes Canada a better place to live. I HOPE!
Before I ramble on and take the gist of this thread further away from the intended, I'll quit now.
Before I ho, I think the first country to blink and increase interest rates will be all that will make the difference, if UK increase interest rates, the exchange rate will go closer to 2:1. If Canada puts them up first, then the exchange rate will likely go to 1.5:1. Thought the weaker the currency, the better for exports, does Canada export much?

There we are, my first tramadol induced post of drivel. Merry Christmas!

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No, Canada doesn't export much apart from crude oil, liquified natural gas, gold, lumber, cars, aerospace products, fertilizer and other products. It only added up to some $532+ billion in 2011 ! ;)

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How much debt does the UK have?
1.43 TRILLION pounds last I read,that will take some effort to pay off I would imagine!

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What point are you exactly trying to make with this post? The UK government has run a fluctuating debt throughout history.

Re: thoughts on the £
 

yep... for me.. overall on average... it cheaper... spreadsheet backing over +10yrs to check against

but like it or not... just as the UK is tied to the EU

the provinces of Canada are tied to federal Canada


But in the much bigger picture... and taking national debt into account.... Canada is tied to the US which in turn is tied to the petro Dollar... a nightmare of there own making

and that petro dollar dictates if Alberta thrives or dies ...

doesn't matter what you have to export, if you have no buyers




On the Debt thing the Uk is ~$2,638,351,639,344 and Canada is ~$1,668,701,366,120

so yes the Uk owe's more than Canada

But per person .......the UK is ~$41,365.46 and Canada is ~$47,326.26

the UKs is about 99% of GDP and Canada is 85.6%

but then taking those numbers the UK's GDP is higher... just depends on how you wnat to look at it....

just to add a perpective the US owe's ~$14,434,323,770,492 but the debt per person is only $45,417.11

Re: thoughts on the £
 

The US economy is way more diversified than Canada's and isn't weighted so heavily on natural resources, particularly oil. The US is trying to to become independent from oil imports by developing it's shale oil.

Canadian dollar will probably keep going down from what I've read.

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Ontario in particular still tries to be a manufacturing economy whereas the prairies are all resources and BC seems to be aiming for a euro-style knowledge based economy. All while Quebec is on strike/ lunch break.

So the same sort of problems as a federal Europe.

Re: thoughts on the £
 

Canada exports Liquified Natural Gas? Are you sure?

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Ooops. Apologies. I meant LPG (liquified petroleum gas) or propane. $16.7 billion worth according to a Google search.

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Once all the PPI money has been spent, what is going to fuel the UK economy then?

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yes... I'm sure this will be a major concern for Mark Carney

I will pass on you're deep insight :rolleyes:

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As of 2012, over £5Bn had been put aside, I understand that this is now over £10bn, all tax free, most being squandered on retail goods. This has fuelled the UK economy. This is the difference between UK and the rest of Europe. I could assume you have no idea that it was so large, but I shall guess that you have no idea?

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I am saying that with limited resources,a shortage of food harvesting land,and an ever increasing population I am glad to no longer be in the UK,not forgetting the tax,tax,and more tax mentality of the UK government.
Also the UK debt has NEVER been as high as it now is,don't forget that there are more countries lined up to join the EU,like Turkey(have fun with that)

Yes Canada's income will drop with the price of oil,but it will also climb again with demand,OPEC countries won't keep churning out oil at under profit costs for too long.

Re: thoughts on the £
 

Can you think of a country that has unlimited resources, no shortage of "food harvesting land" and no increasing population?

Again, please tell of a country which hasn't a higher national debt than ever before? There are probably some, but would you like to live there?

Hmmm. But what if oil becomes irrelevant, as it will?

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If BC has it their way, Canada will be exporting LNG at some point. They are trying to build a plant not far from where I live.

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So what you are really saying above is.... as I get paid in Dollars I will have less buying power when I return to UK next year?? yes?? that is not good news!!!!

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If you could work the Internet I'm sure you would realise that oil is used for far more than making petrol lol.
Canada has a huge amount of land which can be used for agricultural use,whereas the UK is a rock with its southern most part slowly being claimed by the sea.
I can hardly see oil loosing it's demand over the next few generations can you?

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Absolute nonsense. Why is it that the wealthy Russians, Chinese, and Arabs are buying up London property in droves? Half a million migrants a year come and settle in Britain. Much of the country is thriving and full of hope. Students from all over the globe come to study at UK universities and schools. We have an incredibly rich cultural and architectural history, wonderful national parks and coastline, great museums and art galleries, all tremendously inspiring and full of hope.

Most people who leave Britain or Europe for Canada or elsewhere are leaving for adventure or work, not because the old country is hopeless. Try to appreciate the new without denigrating the old, because the generalisations you are making apply to very few people.

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Novo has pretty much summed it up well.

I think the concern about debt is when it becomes larger than GDP where currently it sits at 90% (Canada is at 85% from a quick google search) there are times in the past where it's been as high as 200% The UK will adapt as it has throughout history.

If you believe what the Daily Fail says, sure the EU is a big bad evil thing (though please remember EU migrants are currently providing a net benefit). Sure, there are areas for improvement. The discussion around this is growing, if in the future it begins to have a detrimental effect on quality of life, I don't expect the general population to just bend over and take it.
Whilst I don't particularly enjoy living in the UK, I don't think it's future is as bad as you seem to think

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Absolute nonsense!
The wealthy foreigners are buying up the properties in London as its the capital of the UK and they know they will only profit from buying up those properties,even you know that!!
Half a million migrants come settle in the UK every year+ the population growth on a small land mass when it is already running out of enough farming land to sustain the population,not to mention the limited employment that there is,especially north of the midlands.
The oil industry has started laying off workers,the top wave generator research company in Scotland just laid off their remaining staff due to lack of funding,it is the most violent country in Europe,what else does it have to offer?
The generalisations that I am making apply to lots of people,there is more to the UK than London,maybe look at a map of the UK rather than London at some point!

Re: thoughts on the £
 

Less murders per capita than Canada though, which you seem to have conveniently forgotten in your anti-UK rant. ;) And if you really think that the UK has nothing to offer, then there's something very wrong with your view and I dread to think how awful your life was there.

Shard never said he was talking about London for most of his post - I've lived in several places in the UK and don't recognise the UK you're talking about.

I can't remember where you're from, but your comments seem to echo those made by people that generally only live in certain areas. (Glasgow is the main one that springs to mind - why is it such a high percentage of forum members that are moving, or have moved to, Canada, are from the Glasgow area?! One day I must start a thread as it does intrigue me.)

But anyway, wherever you're from, your comments about the UK don't ring true for most people. And wherever it was, it must have been bad if you think Edmonton is so much better. ;):lol:

Lastly, please do remember that name calling isn't tolerated on the forum, so put your point across, but do it without resorting to personal insults, thx.

Re: thoughts on the £
 

Not an anti-UK rant at all,just facts from someone that hasn't lead a sheltered life.
Less murders maybe,more violent crime positively!
I never said the UK has nothing to offer,it does however have nothing to offer me,hence why I done something and left.

I have lived in Glasgow(suburbs),I have also lived in several areas of Scotland,as well as living in a very nice place called Reading for a while.
I do agree that not all the UK is bad,but for the most part the cities are bad,Bournemouth,Lincolnshire,and Buckinghamshire were nice, Manchester, Reading,London,Glasgow,Paisley not so nice.

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Oh? I must have misunderstood you when you said 'it is the most violent country in Europe, what else does it have to offer?' then.

Aha! I really must start that thread one day, it does intrigue me why Glasgow has such a high percentage of our forum users emigrating to Canada (and possibly other countries too, but I don't know about them).

Reading's awful I think! I live a few miles away from there, and it's lovely here (rarely lock doors, kids play out safely, great community spirit, surrounded by fields etc), but Reading itself is hideous and I avoid it wherever possible. JMO though!

I wouldn't choose to live in a city either, although I did like living in Oxford, but Birmingham and London weren't my cup of tea. I love visiting London for a day with so much for free that the kids can do, but wouldn't want to live there. Just a country bumpkin at heart I guess. :lol:

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Where do you get this notion that we need farming land to sustain the population? That's a 19th century concept, made redundant by international trade. We are able to buy in food from all corners of the earth, not to mention rely on our plentiful "farming land" in the vast EU. There are employment and social issues in parts of Britain, no question, but at least the country (again backed by the EU) has policy in place to look after its people. And it's quite ironic that someone living in Alberta is making rants about impending oil industry lay offs.

London, of course, is a world class city, and not entirely a fair comparison with Edmonton (although we do have our very own scruffy Edmonton). However there are plenty of other cities in Britain that are vibrant or inspirational, not to mention many beautiful market towns and ten thousand (not-so-remote) villages. Something for everyone, really. There are some crummy spots in the UK, but there are crummy spots everywhere. Have a wander on the Rovers Return BE forum sometime, and you'll find loads of former expats who don't recognise the Britain you paint. Even quite a few that are from North of Watford.