here is another link explaining how important the forex market is to the uk and how the uk is the leader. http://finance.mapsofworld.com/foreign-exchange-market/uk.html
My best guess is there was no internal public support for Britain adopting the Euro and abolishing the £. Ofcourse this was during the boom. Who knows how the sentiment will be when Sterling get's cut in half even from the levels of today.
There's one interest rate in the EZ? Really? You get the same interest on German gov. bonds than on Italian or Greek bonds? Really? Wow! yes. well at least one setting interest rate parameters. like with the erm. the ecb has taken its place. look at the link in my second to last post. UK makes 70% of the World's foreign exchange trades? Really? WowWow! you are i agree right about this one it is thirty five percent. still large though. the link for source is on the same post as the stated link above. Italian quality of life decreased because of the euro? Really? Ãberwow! the source linked on the last post. You blame a few thousand Eastern European immigrants for Britain's economic problems? When it is well known that the British economy has been supported by immigration for decades? Wow. You are awesome! i never said anything anything about eastern europeans you assumed. read it again i state the outer european migration. not european migration. the simple answer to both you and martinghoul is that you have your own agenda which is based on getting in the eu. you don't read peoples post properly or provide retorts you just say it is wrong. i haven't actually made any claims myself simply noted some of the arguments made by others if you read it again you will see i say some argue or there are worries that. unlike you i do not speak as absolute authorities on the subject i only raised topics made by others. i also linked to a think tank for the details on cost etc. i said i did not know the ins and outs of it. finally again martinghoul what have i said about the money markets or interest rates that is so wrong in one or two sentences. the fact is nothing. i have merely stated a brief outline with out detail. i suggest you need to do more research not me. as you think you know what some else knows from reading a couple of lines. i do not want to do this with you again. last time we had an argument you tried to pick up on spelling mistakes and little arguments not accepting any comments from me. when i try to explain things you jump to conclusions or pick up on something which was not linked i the first place. you also assume what you have learned in text books is correct if it was would we be in the problems we are in now. anyway i have provided arguments and links for the op. plus a think tank that an authority on the subject. perhaps you should go there yourself or like everyone else do they simple just not understand anything in your opinion. neither of you can debate. you can only argue your point and badly. look at your posts and at mine you will see what i am talking about. seriously i was just trying to help this guy. i provided sources and links you did nothing other than criticise and say i am right and you are wrong and insulted me. look at the bruges group and the links. they are justified. i assume the op was just trying to write an essay to show points of the argument i helped you did not. in reply to you martinghoul how do you know what i know or who i know. how do you know what i think from a couple of sentences from what i see you don't even read it properly. by the way i invent things like the interest rates and the bond market. i am a macro economist i can prove it if you want.
please clarify your points. i have explained mine. your lack of posting is an omission of your own ignorance as you have not defended or backed your self up.
I'm italian, and you should to stop believing all the cr@p from british newspapers. 99% of what they write about Italy is bull$hit. And forgive me if I don't waste my time providing more arguments or numbers, british newspapers don't deserve it.
ok so the source is poor that is not my fault what about the other arguments. notice no one has come back on them. one person said i blamed the economic situation in the uk on eastern europeans immigrants. i did not even mention them. the only comment i mentioned to immigrants was outside eu. and i weighed it up with it may have hurt or helped it is debated. you are all so biased you don't even bother to read posts. look at the interest comment i made i provided a link you ignored it. you can say things all you want but one you don't read my comments properly, two you don't provide an argument or retort and last you give no justification. where are your replies to my later comments and links. there are none.
On the contrary, my lack of posting is only evidence of me having a life. Here's a few items, in response to your first post: 1. The problem with the UK is not the household leverage per se, but rather the fact that most mortgages are of the short maturity floating rate variety. This makes them very sensitive to the policy rate fluctuations, unlike, for example, the US or the Danish system. 2. The frameworks used by the ECB and the BoE to manage interest rates are extremely similar, actually. Neither framework includes anything called a 'discount flow window'. 3. What does the proportion of FX trades done in the UK have to do with the existence of pound sterling? Do you know what fraction of these trades actually involve sterling crosses? Do you know what happens to these trades if sterling gets replaced by Euro? 4. Where do you get the idea that the quality of life in Italy declined after the introduction of the Euro? I'd argue that Euro was, in many ways, beneficial to Italy as it forced some much needed fiscal consolidation and actually lowered interest rates for Italian borrowers and inflation for consumers. Furthermore, in response to your later posts: 5. What possible bearing could the ERM debacle have on today's situation? It was a policy mistake by the government, there was no central bank and the hard target was a market rate. Finally, I have absolutely no view on whether it's appropriate for UK to enter the EMU, so pls don't suggest that I am some sort of a Euro fanatic. I just don't like it when you make completely incorrect assertions. As to the actual answer to the OP's question, the best suggestion, in my view, is to go read the various statements by the UK Independence Party. Their sole raison d'etre is to get the UK as far away as possible from the EU.
The Italian economy is now bigger than the UK economy as the pound has declined against the euro. UK will never vote for the euro but it may be imposed. It would mean a much harder recession as you cannot devalue out of it.
Quote from Martinghoul On the contrary, my lack of posting is only evidence of me having a life. Here's a few items, in response to your first post: 1. The problem with the UK is not the household leverage per se, but rather the fact that most mortgages are of the short maturity floating rate variety. This makes them very sensitive to the policy rate fluctuations, unlike, for example, the US or the Danish system. REPLY ok i agree a bit. it is due to the type of mortgage. however we still have much higher debt ratio for house price than most other eu states e.g. france where they rent. 2. The frameworks used by the ECB and the BoE to manage interest rates are extremely similar, actually. Neither framework includes anything called a 'discount flow window'. REPLY actually there are different functions in the boe model and the eu i can get the papers. as for the discount flow window it is one of them. here is a boe page with papers including it. http://search.bankofengland.co.uk/s...heet=default_frontend&site=default_collection 3. What does the proportion of FX trades done in the UK have to do with the existence of pound sterling? Do you know what fraction of these trades actually involve sterling crosses? Do you know what happens to these trades if sterling gets replaced by Euro? REPLY ok i get to an extent your point here. although i think mine is valid. the pound is seen as a minor reserve currency it has a value due to its perceived strength. this has devalued but is still of value for the uk. some are concerned however the loss of the pound and the use of euro will lose that purchasing power although as i stated in the post this may not be the case and to look at how the euro has gained in value against the pound over the last decade. 4. Where do you get the idea that the quality of life in Italy declined after the introduction of the Euro? I'd argue that Euro was, in many ways, beneficial to Italy as it forced some much needed fiscal consolidation and actually lowered interest rates for Italian borrowers and inflation for consumers. REPLY i provided a article read it and the others. i suggest you read all of the posts over and again you have miss read them. Furthermore, in response to your later posts: 5. What possible bearing could the ERM debacle have on today's situation? It was a policy mistake by the government, there was no central bank and the hard target was a market rate. REPLY it is just evidential as to how the uk had problems fitting into the interest rate parameter last time and if it was down to a governmental mistake then could that not happen again. Finally, I have absolutely no view on whether it's appropriate for UK to enter the EMU, so pls don't suggest that I am some sort of a Euro fanatic. I just don't like it when you make completely incorrect assertions. REPLY ok that is exactly what i told him to do read my posts i tell him or her again and again to go to the bruges group website. incidentally i used to be the economic adviser to ukip. i invent things like the interest rate mechanism. As to the actual answer to the OP's question, the best suggestion, in my view, is to go read the various statements by the UK Independence Party. Their sole raison d'etre is to get the UK as far away as possible from the EU. REPLY i used to think you knew about the central bank etc but you clearly do not go to the ecb publication page and look up the framework. there are different tools used in the eurozone framework. the paper detailing below. http://www.ecb.int/pub/pdf/other/gendoc2008en.pdf google discount flow window. the fact you do not know that about the discount flow window would indicate you do not know what you are talking about. there was one point when we discussed a similar issue when i thought you knew more than me because you are a bond trader but now i am worried. think about it you work in bonds which relate heavily to the central bank and you did not know about the discount flow window. read the papers i have sent and the last few posts i made. to be honest i don't want to argue with you but you make very insulting remarks so i am just defending myself. if someone said you do not know what you are talking about without backing it up the way you do you would be peed. think about what you said without knowing what i know or stating points none of your points have any source but mine do. any one here can look them up. but now you have gone to far saying you are an authority when you don't know about something you should. i can't believe it. really it is just beyond reproach. a bond trader who doesn't understand the central banking system and interest rates which are correlated deeply. seriously look up discount flow window. any one you will laugh at the naivity and ignorance. i would like to point out i do not like doing this but you attacked me first. p off and bother someone else. don't make an argument unless you back it up and learn about your job.