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#11
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
I read an article on this in a UK broadsheet. Apperently, if you want a
Digital Camera, an iPod, and a laptop computer, you can save about 500-700 GBP, more than worth it since a return from London to NYC is under 200 GBP and it is only a 7 hour flight. And you have to be lucky at UK customs, too. I didn't think luck came into it. If you only have a few items for personal use, I was always under the impression the no import duty/VAT was payable. Well personally I have never decared anything and I have never been searched/questioned when returning to the UK. Perhaps someone with more experience can clarify this.. |
#12
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
On 7/2/04 9:08 am, in article ,
"Sjoerd" wrote: "freeda" schreef in bericht ... I read an article on this in a UK broadsheet. Apperently, if you want a Digital Camera, an iPod, and a laptop computer, you can save about 500-700 GBP, more than worth it since a return from London to NYC is under 200 GBP and it is only a 7 hour flight. Plus you can buy pepperoni. Oh yes, and Cheddar cheese. And you have to be lucky at UK customs, too. They can't even spot truckloads of Chinese cockle-fishers, so an iPod shouldn't be a problem. J; |
#13
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
On Sat, 07 Feb 2004 10:18:21 +0100, Jeremy Henderson
wrote: On 7/2/04 9:08 am, in article , "Sjoerd" wrote: "freeda" schreef in bericht ... I read an article on this in a UK broadsheet. Apperently, if you want a Digital Camera, an iPod, and a laptop computer, you can save about 500-700 GBP, more than worth it since a return from London to NYC is under 200 GBP and it is only a 7 hour flight. Plus you can buy pepperoni. Oh yes, and Cheddar cheese. And you have to be lucky at UK customs, too. They can't even spot truckloads of Chinese cockle-fishers, so an iPod shouldn't be a problem. There are adverts everywhere about how HM Govt will chase benefit fraudsters - but so far I have seen none about targetting corporate tax fraud or gangs who smuggle in Chinese, Romanians etc, charging them thousands of pounds, then enslaving them as per these poor sods in Morecambe Bay. |
#14
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
"freeda" wrote in message ... I read an article on this in a UK broadsheet. Apperently, if you want a Digital Camera, an iPod, and a laptop computer, you can save about 500-700 GBP, more than worth it since a return from London to NYC is under 200 GBP and it is only a 7 hour flight. And you have to be lucky at UK customs, too. I didn't think luck came into it. If you only have a few items for personal use, I was always under the impression the no import duty/VAT was payable. Up to a value of £145, that is true. Over that, you are liable to pay UK import duty and VAT, but you should also be able to claim back any taxes you paid in the USA when you export the goods. Well personally I have never decared anything and I have never been searched/questioned when returning to the UK. You probably weren't giving off any of the signals that people do when they know they shouldn't be smuggling stuff :-) Colin Bignell |
#15
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) muttered....
Well, we enjoyed favorable exchange rates for a long, long time - when the dollar keeps dropping in value, perhaps we should do something about our trade deficits? (I admit my recent trip to Vienna cost me considerably more - in US currency - than the one in 2000, but what can you expect, with our current administration?) Quick course in Economics, Ev, the part you must have missed during your last and lamented miseducation..... For trade deficits, a dropping dollar makes US goods cheaper and cheaper abroad, quickly increasing US exports (although we now produce less exportable goods, and have not been able to produce cars attractive to foreign purchasers). Meanwhile, the dropping dollar causes folks to quit buying foreign goods which begin to cost more and more (works for everything but oil). Imports drop, the trade deficit decreases, and the dollar strengthens. Actually, the US dollar had become far over-valued as a number of foreign economies had slowed/declined, and the current "adjustment" down represents a reality bite for US travelers abraod, the dollar being worth closer to what it ought to be. Sadly, for US consumers, one thing which would cause the dollar to jump in value would be a quick increase in US interest rates causing a flood of foreign investors to invest in US governmental and commercial debt instruments. Immediately, US consumers would be paying more for personal debt service and the interest-increase would shoe up in price increases. Currently, vehicles sales remain relatively high because the cost of credit is so low. Even imports continue to sell, because their cost of production is reflected in dollar values from months ago when their materials and components were purchased, and the financing/debt costs to the US consumer are the same whether he buys a foreign made auto or a domestic car (and many "furrin" cars are assempled in the US (with many US comonents). For decades, the US, with little competition from tiny postWWII foreign economies essentially "fixed" the value of the US dollar, with the USTreasury and banks ever able to buy and sell funds in amounts large enough to stabilize and fluctuation overnight. While still the world's largest economy (by any measure or standard), the US is no longer so dominant that it can almost effortlessly keep the yen or the pund/franc/mark and now Euro from going up (or even down). So, while cheap dollars make your trip to Europe expensive, cheap dollars actually stimulate production and employment in several large segments of the US economy (but accomplish quirky side effects such as grave damage to a fragile Mexican economy for which the two largest providers of funds are money sent home by Mexicans, legal and illegal, working in the US (whose dollars will no longer buy as much) and US tourism (declining as tickeys, hotel rooms or meals go up). That's why Mexico, no matter the dollar's movement, does everything possible to hold the peso in a stable relationship to it. The over=priced dollar of the later Clinton years wasa sure-fire inescapable predictor of "things to come" to almost every international economist (and the pages of dozens of economic publications, 1995-2000, were filled with dire projections). Some folks simply didn't read (and never have). That's how currency traders make money. Most of them read. TMO |
#16
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
On 6 Feb 2004 07:43:17 -0800, (Mike) wrote:
Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe I'm a little reticent to blame all the tourist troubles Europe is having on the weak dollar. On average, people plan their vacations about six to nine months in advance, sometimes longer. So what Americans were thinking about Europe earlier this year may be as important as what the exchange rate is now. ----== Posted via Newsfeed.Com - Unlimited-Uncensored-Secure Usenet News==---- http://www.newsfeed.com The #1 Newsgroup Service in the World! 100,000 Newsgroups ---= 19 East/West-Coast Specialized Servers - Total Privacy via Encryption =--- |
#17
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
"Michael Gallagher" schreef in bericht ... On 6 Feb 2004 07:43:17 -0800, (Mike) wrote: Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe I'm a little reticent to blame all the tourist troubles Europe is having on the weak dollar. On average, people plan their vacations about six to nine months in advance, sometimes longer. So what Americans were thinking about Europe earlier this year may be as important as what the exchange rate is now. There are relatively few "tourist problems" in Europe. My friends who own a hotel here in Amsterdam tell me that were indeed fewer Americans in 2003, but more Italians, Spaniards, Scandinavians, French and Eastern Europeans including many Russians. The number of Chinese visitors is also increasing rapidly. Sjoerd |
#18
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
"Olivers" schreef in bericht ... EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque) muttered.... Well, we enjoyed favorable exchange rates for a long, long time - when the dollar keeps dropping in value, perhaps we should do something about our trade deficits? (I admit my recent trip to Vienna cost me considerably more - in US currency - than the one in 2000, but what can you expect, with our current administration?) Quick course in Economics, Ev, the part you must have missed during your last and lamented miseducation..... For trade deficits, a dropping dollar makes US goods cheaper and cheaper abroad, quickly increasing US exports (although we now produce less exportable goods, and have not been able to produce cars attractive to foreign purchasers). Meanwhile, the dropping dollar causes folks to quit buying foreign goods which begin to cost more and more (works for everything but oil). Imports drop, the trade deficit decreases, and the dollar strengthens. Actually, the US dollar had become far over-valued as a number of foreign economies had slowed/declined, and the current "adjustment" down represents a reality bite for US travelers abraod, the dollar being worth closer to what it ought to be. Sadly, for US consumers, one thing which would cause the dollar to jump in value would be a quick increase in US interest rates causing a flood of foreign investors to invest in US governmental and commercial debt instruments. Immediately, US consumers would be paying more for personal debt service and the interest-increase would shoe up in price increases. Currently, vehicles sales remain relatively high because the cost of credit is so low. Even imports continue to sell, because their cost of production is reflected in dollar values from months ago when their materials and components were purchased, and the financing/debt costs to the US consumer are the same whether he buys a foreign made auto or a domestic car (and many "furrin" cars are assempled in the US (with many US comonents). For decades, the US, with little competition from tiny postWWII foreign economies essentially "fixed" the value of the US dollar, with the USTreasury and banks ever able to buy and sell funds in amounts large enough to stabilize and fluctuation overnight. While still the world's largest economy (by any measure or standard), the US is no longer so dominant that it can almost effortlessly keep the yen or the pund/franc/mark and now Euro from going up (or even down). So, while cheap dollars make your trip to Europe expensive, cheap dollars actually stimulate production and employment in several large segments of the US economy (but accomplish quirky side effects such as grave damage to a fragile Mexican economy for which the two largest providers of funds are money sent home by Mexicans, legal and illegal, working in the US (whose dollars will no longer buy as much) and US tourism (declining as tickeys, hotel rooms or meals go up). That's why Mexico, no matter the dollar's movement, does everything possible to hold the peso in a stable relationship to it. The over=priced dollar of the later Clinton years wasa sure-fire inescapable predictor of "things to come" to almost every international economist (and the pages of dozens of economic publications, 1995-2000, were filled with dire projections). Some folks simply didn't read (and never have). That's how currency traders make money. Most of them read. You forget one important fact: many currencies of important trade partners of the USA in Asia are officially or in practice linked to the US$. Changes in the GBP or EUR value expressed in US$ do not have much impact on bilateral trade between the USA and these very important trading partners in Asia. Sjoerd |
#19
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in message ...
perhaps we should do something about our trade deficits? (I admit my recent trip to Vienna cost me considerably more - in US currency - than the one in 2000, but what can you expect, with our current administration?) Yeah, a good fuehrer would do *something* about normal cyclical currency fluctuations and while he was at it he should do *something* about tooth decay and hemorrhoids. The oversimplifications and the simple minded limited perceptions here are unbelievable. |
#20
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"Americans not getting bang for buck in Europe"
Sjoerd writes:
The number of Chinese visitors is also increasing rapidly. Right now there are a great many Oriental tourists in Paris. Most of them seem to be Chinese, or from a country where Chinese is spoken. Traditionally the Japanese have been the most frequent visitors from the Orient, but they are currently a minority from that part of the world in Paris. -- Transpose hotmail and mxsmanic in my e-mail address to reach me directly. |
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