Thursday, November 3, 2016

Falling off a cliff

Looks like the USD and GBP are headed for parity!  Two years ago, 1 pound would have gotten you $1.60.  Today it gets you just $1.24.  Since June it's lost 17% of it's value!  I haven't seen a slide like that since 9/11.



But if you think that's bad, compare the New Zealand dollar against the pound.  A year ago 1 pound would have gotten you $2.30, today it gets you $1.74, 25% less!



If I were earning NZ dollars, this would be an excellent time to visit Britain. :-)  Unfortunately I'm earning US dollars and the US dollar has been quite soft lately, no doubt helped by the ridiculous presidential election.  Since the beginning of the year, 1 US dollar has gone from 1.56 NZ dollars to 1.33 NZ dollars, a 15% drop.  That means I'm effectively earning 15% less than I was in February!  That totally sucks.

That said, there was an article two days ago that the kiwi (as it's affectionally known) had fallen to a 7-week low because...the global price of milk had dropped.  If "what's good for the country is good for General Motors" is true in the US, then in New Zealand what's good for the country is good for cows.
 

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Eurovision revisited

I've long poked fun at Eurovision (which is something of an institutional pastime, I think) but nothing really sums it up better than the UK entry for 1974, by an Australian singer who didn't even like the song she was singing.  (It was chosen by public ballot, a formula which continues to be disastrous for Britain.)  What's remarkable is that this came fourth that year!  (Abba's "Waterloo" won.)

https://youtu.be/7CSmksNRQ9w
Olivia Newton-John, Long Live Love