The EURO after two months

[Hitro]

This thread is mainly for the people living in the "Eurozone".
Of course there's been a big fuss about the new currency when it was about to be introduced. But now, after about two month of using it, what's your opinion about it?
Do you think everything got more expensive because of the change?
Or have you already experienced advantages because of it?
Did your opinion change compared to last year?

 

[S.P.Q.R.]

Originally posted by Hitro
This thread is mainly for the people living in the "Eurozone".
Of course there's been a big fuss about the new currency when it was about to be introduced. But now, after about two month of using it, what's your opinion about it?

Hmmm... the € became a part of the normal everyday life in these months... it's money now; nothing more, nothing less. I still think it was the right decision.

Do you think everything got more expensive because of the change?

I think there was a certain increasing of prices, especially in smaller shops. But I wouldn't blame the € for it... it's rather the greediness of merchants. They increased the prices when they thought noone would notice it...

Or have you already experienced advantages because of it?

Sure... I didn't have to exchange money when I went into skiing holidays. This saved me quite a lot of fees
Did your opinion change compared to last year? No

 

[Adebisi]

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[S.P.Q.R.]

Just be a bit patient... I'm sure the different coins will be pretty well mixed after the summer holidays...

 

[Juize]

€uro = Inflation. Since -99 all the prices have been skyrocketing.

 

[Zwelgje]

The euro didn't bring any good nor did it bring any bad things. The euro to me is just like the guilder was to me, it's money. At the beginning of the month I have lots of it and at the end, well, less......
I think I'll see the good things of the euro when I go on holiday and I can just use my "own" currency over there in stead of having to change.

 

[Hamlet]

Isn't it a bit premature to be making any grand statements yet?

 

[stormerne]

If Britain joins the EuroZone, will that mean I'll suddenly be able to see the Euro symbol in some of the posts above instead of the little square box that appears today?

Meanwhile the sterling/USdollar and sterling/Euro exchange rates are nice and easy to remember at the moment.
1 pound = (square root of 2) dollars
1 pound = (golden section) euros
OK so I'm a mathematician!

 

[animepornstar]

Originally posted by stormerne
1 pound = (golden section) euros

the golden section is 1.6... something right? the perfect rectangle shape.

 

[Ebenezer1]

It's only money, but I can say 2 things:
1) I hate the cents.... they are microscopics!!
2) There is an increase of prices, expecially in primary goods (milk, bread, etc.), but I agree with S.P.Q.R. ...[ I wouldn't blame the € for it... it's rather the greediness of merchants)]

 

[Hitro]

Originally posted by ebenezer1
2) There is an increase of prices, expecially in primary goods (milk, bread, etc.), but I agree with S.P.Q.R. ...[ I wouldn't blame the € for it... it's rather the greediness of merchants)]

Well you don't have to blame the Euro itself, after all it's just a currency. But you could blame the whole change, cause that gave the "greedy merchants" the opportunity.

 

[Kinniken]

Everybody seems to have accepted the ? easily. Yeah, price have gone up a bit, but anyway January is an inflation period.
Adebisi: I got a dutch coin and two spanish (and got more shipped from other countries but that's an other story)
Being Finnish, I'm afraid you are going to wait a bit before seing a lot of foreign coins, since you are rather far from the rest of the EU zone. I know that in Lille (french city near belgium), they already use a lot of belge coins, and that in Strasbourg (near german border), they have plenty of german coins.
I bet half of the coins in France will be foreign in two years. (well, at least I hope so ;-) )

Kinniken

 

[stormerne]

Originally posted by animepornstar

the golden section is 1.6... something right? the perfect rectangle shape.

Yep.
The number whose reciprocal is one less than itself.
What the ratio of adjacent terms of the Fibonacci series tends to.
Half of one plus the square root of five.
1.6180339...
1 + 1/(1+1/(1+1/(1+1/(1+1/(1+1/(1+1/(1+1/(1+1/(....
etc. etc. etc.

 

[basher]

Originally posted by Juize
€uro = Inflation. Since -99 all the prices have been skyrocketing.

Have they? I disagree with you. Here are the inflation statistics of Finland from 1986 to 2001 (year/inflation %)
Source: http://www.stat.fi/tk/tp/tasku/taskus_hinnat.html#inflaatio

1986/3,6%

1987/3,7%

1988/5,1%

1989/6,6%

1990/6,1%

1991/4,1%

1992/2,6%

1993/2,2%

1994/1,1%

1995/1,0%

1996/0,6%

1997/1,2%

1998/1,4%

1999/1,2%

2000/3,4%

2001/2,6%


... Now that isn't actually "skyrocketing" is it?

"Mä en tykkää siitä, että perustelut vedetään hatusta!"

 

[Adebisi]

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[Juize]

Originally posted by basher


Have they? I disagree with you. Here are the inflation statistics of Finland from 1986 to 2001 (year/inflation %)
Source: http://www.stat.fi/tk/tp/tasku/taskus_hinnat.html#inflaatio

1986/3,6%

1987/3,7%

1988/5,1%

1989/6,6%

1990/6,1%

1991/4,1%

1992/2,6%

1993/2,2%

1994/1,1%

1995/1,0%

1996/0,6%

1997/1,2%

1998/1,4%

1999/1,2%

2000/3,4%

2001/2,6%


... Now that isn't actually "skyrocketing" is it?

"Mä en tykkää siitä, että perustelut vedetään hatusta!"

You have excluded stats from 2002.
And if they're under 4 % I'm gonna say that it is all just a big conspiracy.


Abedisi: Put your forum address on your signature.
I don't know where these finns are coming from, probably Civ3 -forums.
CFC OT has just 2 finns posting to them.

 

[Kinniken]

And if they're under 4 % I'm gonna say that it is all just a big conspiracy.

Well if you reason like that... what can we say?

I agree that there was some limited euro-inflation in my area (France), but I do not believe it will be signifiquant; especialy since the beginning of the year sees increase in prices anyway.
What is more, even if the euro leads to an increase in price in say, 1% the first year, on the long term it's insignificant. In the long term I rather expect greater monetery stability to lead to lower inflation... though proving it, one way or the other, is about impossible.

 

[Adebisi]

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[knowltok2]

Originally posted by Kinniken


Well if you reason like that... what can we say?

Someone questioning Juize's reasoning? Say it ain't so!

kinniken: You are right that greater monetary stability would lower inflation. It remains to be seen whether the Euro will be more stable than some of the individual currencies it replaces. I think it will be in most cases, and am in favor of the Euro, but it is too soon tell.

 

[kundor]

Originally posted by Adebisi
Where are all these Finns coming from? At my forum, 3000 members have signed up, and only 2 were Finnish excluding me. And I had to ban one of those two for spamming and profanity.

My guess is that they are coming from Finland.

As far as the Euro...I enjoyed not having to change a dozen currencies on my last visit to Europe. And I think that the monopoly money look is brilliant! So it's a success by me.