tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post8872316627407604703..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: Impeccable logicMark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-80685322817058981682007-09-12T22:50:00.000+01:002007-09-12T22:50:00.000+01:00I rememebr that we were told decimilisation wouldn...I rememebr that we were told decimilisation wouldn't affect prices but it did. Increased overnight on thousands of goods. One example: On 13th Feb 1971 butter cost 11 and 1/2d (old pennies) for a 1/2lb pack. On 14th Feb it was 1/- (one shilling the new coin equivalent being 5p)) an increase of 1/2d. [4.3% increase overnight??]All because the new coinage didn't have the equivalent to an old 1/2 penny. So goods were rounded up rather than down. I remember it well as I was a trainee hospital technician on a very tight budget.Penny Pincherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00993473608935875834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-42058464485015307972007-09-12T19:59:00.000+01:002007-09-12T19:59:00.000+01:00Neil, I doubt whether it made much difference eith...Neil, I doubt whether it made much difference either way. I wasn't saying it was true, I was saying that people say it, which is true.<BR/><BR/>But I do visit Germany fairly frequently, and the price of a take-away pizza and a couple of beers definitely doubled in the late 1990s (or whenever it was).<BR/><BR/>Even my teenage lads (who are lefties of course, being young) call it the "Teuro".Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-14344671740444497362007-09-12T18:13:00.000+01:002007-09-12T18:13:00.000+01:00According to the official figures inflation droppe...According to the official figures inflation dropped in Germany after the Euro was introduced.<BR/><BR/>Now you could argue that the stats taken from a wide selection of goods are wrong and a few Germans that the media have carefully chosen to speak to, are right - it is of course possible. But personally I believe in the scientific method - which is why I believe in evolution despite the majority of the US public not doing so.Neil Hardinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01333739272733802133noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-76465289715810821072007-09-12T09:46:00.000+01:002007-09-12T09:46:00.000+01:00V, yes of course it is nonsense, but at least I ca...V, yes of course it is nonsense, but at least I can see where he went wrong.<BR/><BR/>Nominally we would have 40% inflation, in real terms it is not inflation at all (altho' a lot of people say that going decimal sparked off inflation in the 1970s and a lot of Germans say that prices went up when they joined the Euro).<BR/><BR/>Similarly, the 5% is because other EU countries do not have a VAT zero rate for food or children's clothing (so again, this is false logic, metrication and VAT-harmonisation are two different topics).<BR/><BR/>It's the "nine times" that threw me, this is clearly wrong (as are the other two statements) but I can't even see WHERE he went wrong.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-83999391883419167592007-09-12T09:18:00.000+01:002007-09-12T09:18:00.000+01:00Firstly, how does a £1/1.40EUR exchange rate resul...Firstly, how does a £1/1.40EUR exchange rate result in a 35% and 5% increase in prices? Secondly, the increase will purely be mathematical as the value remains constant although the prices have changed. So i don't get the point of the post.Vindicohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13966077915620078085noreply@blogger.com