Brexit

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

If only the great British public had known!

Switching to Canon wouldn't have made a difference.

Cheers,
Bart

[Justinr]

I'm not absolutely sure what the fuss is about anyway, 12 days ago it stood at 129.7 yen to the pound, yesterday it had climbed back to 141 yen to the pound and shows no sign of dropping again.  A brief history since 2010 shows -

Highest: 195.4943 JPY on 17 Jun 2015.
Average: 151.1377 JPY over this period.
Lowest: 117.2329 JPY on 22 Sep 2011.

http://www.exchangerates.org.uk/GBP-JPY-exchange-rate-history-full.html

It had stood in the mid 150's leading up to Brexit and appears to be returning to that level at present reaching it's pre vote level in about a fortnight at this rate. 

[Bart_van_der_Wolf]

I'm not absolutely sure what the fuss is about anyway, 12 days ago it stood at 129.7 yen to the pound, yesterday it had climbed back to 141 yen to the pound and shows no sign of dropping again.

I always prefer to look at it on an annual basis, which would take account of seasonal effects, and not be affected as much the anticipations around the referendum.

This indeed does not look like a cheap excuses. When dealer stocks need to be replenished, they indeed require a lot more UK pounds o do so.

Cheers,
Bart

[Justinr]

I always prefer to look at it on an annual basis, which would take account of seasonal effects, and not be affected as much the anticipations around the referendum.

This indeed does not look like a cheap excuses. When dealer stocks need to be replenished, they indeed require a lot more UK pounds o do so.

Cheers,
Bart

Which is fair enough and by doing so it may noted that the pound bought 185 yen on average for 2015 but the average for the first six months of 2016 was just 160. This may indicate that there were other factors behind the fall and Grays rise in prices is not entirely due to Brexit

https://www.oanda.com/currency/average

[Rob C]

Switching to Canon wouldn't have made a difference.

Cheers,
Bart

Nothing bought into the country will get cheaper unless it's from some society even worse off than we have elected to become. Devaluation of currencies helps some, but kills others. The second-last time I heard the bullshit that a devaluation in the value of your national currency changes nothing, it came from the lips of one Harold Wilson, telling the populace that the pound in their pocket was still worth a pound! You couldn't make it up - today - but in those days, people were very poorly travelled and even more inclined to believe everything they were told. Hmmm... maybe nothing has really changed that much after all.

I looked at some second-hand Riva Aquariva prices yesterday: $ 610,000 for an open motorboat, 33 ft long. A Fleming trawler-style boat at around 65 ft was listed for $ 3.5 million. It's a big, expensive world out there, that just got a lot more expensive if your income comes in British pounds. Both these boat types live here in the local yacht club. They appear quite modest; I've cruised in longer. Nice being a guest: you say ta to the owners, invite them round to dinner, tip the skipper's wife and walk away as, of course, do the owners. That's what crew do; they crew.

All I am concerned about now is living within my pension and what's left of the proceeds of those bloody long and hard years of clicking cameras. For pounds, all tax-paid.

Maybe I should have fathered more children instead.

Rob

[Justinr]

Nothing bought into the country will get cheaper unless it's from some society even worse off than we have elected to become. Devaluation of currencies helps some, but kills others. The second-last time I heard the bullshit that a devaluation in the value of your national currency changes nothing, it came from the lips of one Harold Wilson, telling the populace that the pound in their pocket was still worth a pound! You couldn't make it up - today - but in those days, people were very poorly travelled and even more inclined to believe everything they were told. Hmmm... maybe nothing has really changed that much after all.

I looked at some second-hand Riva Aquariva prices yesterday: $ 610,000 for an open motorboat, 33 ft long. A Fleming trawler-style boat at around 65 ft was listed for $ 3.5 million. It's a big, expensive world out there, that just got a lot more expensive if your income comes in British pounds. Both these boat types live here in the local yacht club. They appear quite modest; I've cruised in longer. Nice being a guest: you say ta to the owners, invite them round to dinner, tip the skipper's wife and walk away as, of course, do the owners. That's what crew do; they crew.

All I am concerned about now is living within my pension and what's left of the proceeds of those bloody long and hard years of clicking cameras. For pounds, all tax-paid.

Maybe I should have fathered more children instead.

Rob

As I rather thought it's the value of your pension that's bugging you not the cost of camera gear out of London.

[Jeremy Roussak]

I've mentioned the arrogance of the unelected EU commission several times and especially its president, Jean Claude Juncker who had the hissiest of fits when the UK voted to leave and wanted to punish them for being so disobedient to the great European project. It seems that I was not alone in my thoughts -

One man, in fact, has made me more certain than anything else that we have made a difficult, painful, but correct decision. That man is Jean-Claude Juncker.

If ever there was a symbol of the arrogance of the European Union, and its utter contempt for its citizens, it is this man.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/brexit-i-voted-referendum-jean-claude-juncker-europe-angela-merkel-bitter-arrogant-response-a7107336.html

Good article, and a point of view that is surprising to find in the Independent.

Juncker also threatened to exclude Austria from various parts of the EU if its people had the temerity to elect a president (from a far-right party) that he disliked. The man's arrogance is astonishing, particularly when one considers the tiny and irrelevant country from which he originates and the interesting allegations of financial irregularity which float around his conduct there.

Jeremy

[Rob C]

Good article, and a point of view that is surprising to find in the Independent.

Juncker also threatened to exclude Austria from various parts of the EU if its people had the temerity to elect a president (from a far-right party) that he disliked. The man's arrogance is astonishing, particularly when one considers the tiny and irrelevant country from which he originates and the interesting allegations of financial irregularity which float around his conduct there.

Jeremy

Think FIFA; think men in powerful positions with little supervision.

[Justinr]

Think FIFA; think men in powerful positions with little supervision.

Oh I think Merkel has him on a short enough lead, y'know, the chancellor of Germany who you probably didn't vote for either.

[Rob C]

As things go from one place to another:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14637873.Recession_looms__warn_City_analysts__after__quot_dramatic_deterioration_quot__in_UK_economy_since_Brexit_vote/?ref=ebln

Forgive 'em, for they knew not what they were doing...

[Justinr]

As things go from one place to another:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/14637873.Recession_looms__warn_City_analysts__after__quot_dramatic_deterioration_quot__in_UK_economy_since_Brexit_vote/?ref=ebln

Forgive 'em, for they knew not what they were doing...

Indeed, and there's more here -

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/may/11/uk-manufacturing-sector-falls-back-into-recession-steel

Oh hang on, that was a month before Brexit! Still, it's a handy stick to try and beat the ignoramuses with eh!

[Rob C]

Gathering myself together in hope of making lunch - local holiday today; prices all up 50% - I watched France24 for a few minutes. Interesting docu. on Slovakia, which showed that Jaguar Range Rover are opening production there, largely because of a well-trained workforce and the fact that wages are about €1300 before tax, which is higher than the usual Slovakian wage.

I couldn't find a relevant link on their website, so here's the Wiki equivalent and why Britain should worry. A bit late, unfortunately, unless Parliament gets unusually brave and cancels the entire mess once and for all. Hard to imagine why the rest of the UK auto industry wouldn't now choose to follow suite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_Slovakia

Further reading of the business pages of the Herald (Scottish newspaper leader) makes equally grim mood.

Rob C

[Justinr]

Gathering myself together in hope of making lunch - local holiday today; prices all up 50% - I watched France24 for a few minutes. Interesting docu. on Slovakia, which showed that Jaguar Range Rover are opening production there, largely because of a well-trained workforce and the fact that wages are about €1300 before tax, which is higher than the usual Slovakian wage.

I couldn't find a relevant link on their website, so here's the Wiki equivalent and why Britain should worry. A bit late, unfortunately, unless Parliament gets unusually brave and cancels the entire mess once and for all. Hard to imagine why the rest of the UK auto industry wouldn't now choose to follow suite.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_in_Slovakia

Further reading of the business pages of the Herald (Scottish newspaper leader) makes equally grim mood.

Rob C

Jaguar Land Rover has been owned by the Indian Company Tata for eight years now and already have production plants in India, China and Brazil. Indeed, most large manufacturing companies have plants in various countries and it's worth looking at AGCO who have four large Brand names in the tractor Business, Fendt (Germany), Valtra (Finland), Challenger (USA) and Massey Ferguson (mainly France) all of which share components made in their Chinese factory. And then we have the remains of the British Bike industry, the resurrected Triumph, a lot of their machines and components are made in Thailand while engine castings come from Vietnam. However, Royal Enfield, which are part of Eicher motors (another Indian Company) have recently opened a research and development centre in the UK, just up the road from Triumph's HQ in fact. 

Why do companies do this? All sorts of reasons besides production costs, there is also the spreading of risk which is exemplified by the situation another tractor company is finding itself in. Tumosan started building tractors under the guidance of Fiat around 10 -15 years ago and produce a simple but solid range which was gradually finding new markets outside of their home country, which unfortunately just happens to be Turkey. 

Not sure what this has to do with Brexit, but there you go.

[drmike]

I have pretty much stopped reading this thread but I thought you might be interested in this Spectator on hate crimes increase

Mike

[Jeremy Roussak]

I have pretty much stopped reading this thread but I thought you might be interested in this Spectator on hate crimes increase

Coincidentally, I read that article just last night. The link is behind a paywall, though.

He's pointing out that since "hate crime" is defined as a crime in which, regardless of actual intent, is perceived by the victim, whether reasonably or wholly irrationally, as being motivated by hatred, it's essentially meaningless. He gives the example of a gay man whose bicycle is stolen: if that gay man alleges that he considers his bike was stolen because he's gay, the theft becomes a "hate crime".

Jeremy

[Zorki5]

The link is behind a paywall, though.

Hmm... I could read it w/o any problems, and I'm not their subscriber.

[Slobodan Blagojevic]

... since "hate crime" is defined as a crime in which, regardless of actual intent, is perceived by the victim, whether reasonably or wholly irrationally, as being motivated by hatred, it's essentially meaningless. He gives the example of a gay man whose bicycle is stolen: if that gay man alleges that he considers his bike was stolen because he's gay, the theft becomes a "hate crime".

Oh, dear Lord...yet another PC idiocy 

[wmchauncey]

From an American's point of view, Britain left simply because they didn't want to be dragged back into the seventh century as a lot of Europe in on the verge.

[Justinr]

From an American's point of view, Britain left simply because they didn't want to be dragged back into the seventh century as a lot of Europe in on the verge.

As pointed out recently on this site America is a wide and diverse county so it would seem a little optimistic to ascribe just the one view to the whole population, or even a majority.

The reasons for Britain voting to leave are many and varied but if there is one general source of discontent it is being under the thumb of a remote and basically unelected bureaucracy otherwise known as the EU commission. This quasi government is intent on accruing power to itself yet remain unaccountable to the citizens of the countries concerned which is not what democracy is all about. It is also widely suggested that the whole EU organisation had become little more than a gravy train for officials and a place to send politicians when they have either failed their own voters, are a potential  embarrassment to their party or a threat to the government at home, and quite possibly all three together. 

[drmike]

Oh, dear Lord...yet another PC idiocy 

Add to that the complaint can be made on line so that a cop doesn't even have to assess the validity of this hate crime claim. That said there is a lot of hearsay evidence that harassment of individuals has increased but it's just anecdotal.