HBG

Spain is in the Eurozone, the UK isn't, but if the Eurozone fails we are apparently all in serious trouble. The two days of meetings in Poland have only produced more bickering between the EU and the US over quantative easing, with Germany and France not keen to further prop up a failing Greece.

Thinking it all the way through, expats may not benefit from a failed Euro, we may have to go home if the pound Sterling goes down with it.

jackytoo

It could make sterling rise but who knows anything these days. The knock on effect could be bad for UK too.

I read a few days ago that Roche the swiss drug co. have stopped supplying Greek Hospitals as they haven't been paid for at least 3 years. They also warned Spain who have stopped paying.

Domino

I thought when the euro went wobbly a week or so ago that the GBP would rise.
Did it ? About 1.5c and then dropped back.

we may be out of the euro but we are tied to it more than we are to the dollar nowadays.
If the euro goes belly up it will have a serious effect on the GBP worldwide.

Did you see what the dealer from UBS was doing? making bets on currency movement. Shoot the lot of them, ban it, and let the currencies find their own market. Too many people are betting with our lives, our pensions, taking their money and running.

HBG

The very last sentence from this article made me think.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14934728

'There may not be a workable solution.'

That's the way I see it.

Domino

are there US states that feel their finances are in a better state than some of the others ?
are there US states that are bailing out the rest ?
For example we know that California is the Greece of the US, who is Italy, Spain Portugal ?

jimenato

Back in the mid 90's I did a couple of weeks work in LA and the feeling was then that California would be better off independent from the US as it was so much more wealthy than the rest of America. How times have changed?

Fredbargate

In the last month both the £ and the € have lost to the $

Which would indicate the UK is on the same slippery slope as Europe

megmet

Well so far I've survived my local government pension being reduced for life by 23% simply because I dared to retire at sixty instead of sixty five.
We have also seen our joint pensions fall by a large amount due to the falling exchange rate, we've also seen the interest on our savings and investments all but disappear...but we are still doing OK.

If push comes to shove and things go really down the pan for us... we would still rather be here in Spain poor than rich in the UK.
I know I'm in for more flak for saying that, but it happens to be true!

Domino

why get flak for that Meg ?
it ties in with another thread, and I don't think it is a given you would be rich in the uk if you would be poor in spain. spain has its own richness, the sun, the food, the people.

megmet

I didn't actually mean I would be rich, though obviously we wouldn't lose out with the exchange rate. I simply mean if I had the choice of being rich there or poor here I would without doubt chose here.

Why would I get flak for that statement....you tell me.
I can't understand it myself, but some people on this forum think it's wrong to love this country more than the one of your birth.

cricketman

Depends what you call rich

I would live in any country in the world for enough money, as long as I could take frequent trips to other countries on my private jet

jdr

No they just print more dollars to pay all the bills.

jackytoo

I can understand anyone prefering another country to live, disliking the Government, some laws etc. but to constantly run down the country of your birth and it's people you must admit is very rare...you don't hear many Americans, scottish, Irish, spanish etc do this. Then in the next breath say they have done ok with pensions, savings etc from that very country.

Lord Byron said

"He who loves not his country, can love nothing."

someone else said "Vile is the man who cannot love his country"

I wonder how you would feel if you were the one of 60,000 people in malaga who have absolutely no income due to long term unemployment.!

http://www.diariosur.es/v/20110919/m...-20110919.html

steviedeluxe

Like many I thought that the pound was due to strengthen again against the Euro. Maybe not back to its previous high level (was it really worth 1.60 Euros?), but say perhaps 1.20 or 1.25.
One statistic may give a clue as to why the pound hasn't made that recovery. Apparently every 16 days the UK spends £1 billion on housing benefit. The unemployment figures are going up, and it's hard to see at this stage where the jobs are coming from. We can't all work in McDs and banks!

HBG

That's what I'm afraid of. In the past four to five years my Sterling income has gone down by around 30% and the value of my house in Spain has fallen by the same amount. I'm not too bothered about the house value because I bought when Spain still had the Peseta, but, looking around, I probably couldn't sell at any price.

I want to stay, of course I do, but every once in a while I sit down with my calculator and a piece of paper, not rose-coloured. There is a certain point below parity between the pound and the Euro, when the figures no longer work.

And there's no point in taking your eyes off the far-away horizon, Spanish unemployment figures and other woes have so far only produced peaceful Indignados, that could change in more desperate times.