On Sat, 25 Oct 2008 12:39:12 +0100, "Arfa Daily"
wrote:

:
:"Quid" is the slang term for a GB pound - a bit like 'buck' is slang for a
:US dollar. As to the value. Well, unfortunately for me and my family, who
:jump on an iron bird headed for your neck of the woods on Monday, the pound
:is now very weak against your dollar. My daughter bought some dollars
:yesterday, and got just $1.49 for each pound. She watched it drop by 4 cents
:from $1.53, as she stood in the line to make the deal. My other daughter
:bought some when she visited at the end of July, and got $1.96 for every
ound. So around 20% has been wiped off the value in the last few weeks. So
:at the moment, a seven quid tip is about 10 bucks or so in your wonga.


Despite the woes being experienced in the UK and the falling value of the UKP
against the US$, a 20% fall is not too bad by Aussie standards.

Only about 7 weeks ago our little Aussie dollar was almost on parity with the
US$ at US$0.97. Today it is about US$0.61, or a fall of around 27%. For a
country which is expected to ride out the devastation better than most other
Western nations, that is a pretty severe drop in value. It makes you wonder -
what with all the bailouts and failing companies, banks etc in the US,- just how
the US dollar remains so strong, and other currencies are falling against it.
After all, didn't the US start the decline of the economy by their scandalous
lending practices anyway?