If the Euro dissolves (as it must), the major loser would be Germany, as an article in Bussinessweek identifies today: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_30/b4188013376148.htm The Euro has allowed Germany to "beggar its neighbors". In difficult economic times, the weaker economies would have devalued and the Deutsche Mark would have shot up in value, making German...

The high Euro and low Renminbi led to the financial crisis via petroleum and other commodity prices. USA states are free to default. Bonds of USA states have different (face) interest rates, (effective) yields and ratings. Most USA states have rules against having deficits, but not all. No one kicks them off the dollar when they default. - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+,...

Is VAT or excise duty imposed on collector's coins if the coins are still legal tender in the country of their origin? Thanks.

I'm still getting up to speed on my economics, but the book I'm reading says a way for governments to pay off bonds if for them to print the money. So what is to stop Gordon Brown and new Labour/ new Tories printing money to pay off the enormous debt? It may cause inflation, but not if taxes rose, and the labour market was opened to increased immigration, and imports. Also a big...

Hi - I'm trying to make a few historical currency graphs over the years and plan to put a note on the graphs at the peak and troughs for rough explanations of what was happening around that time, to help aid my understanding of the trends. I'm looking for basic info on the bigger events, but haven't really found anywhere decent yet that provides this information. For example, I want to...

I've heard that there are now 0.1 oz Gold backed securities traded on London exchanges (though Dollar denominated?). How would I go about buying these? Could they be held in a stock ISA? Would there be any point in holding them in a stocks ISA? Thanks

I found a couple of the old £10 notes the other day whilst cleaning out some drawers (the ones with Charles Dickens on the back). One shop refused to accept the note and told me to go to the bank to have it changed. I didn't mind at the time because I had the correct change but if I hadn't I would have probably stuck to my guns and insisted on seeing the manager. Were they right to refuse the...

The following is taken from a mainstream book on financial derivatives. "The price of currency A expressed in terms of the price of currency B follows the process dS=(rB-rA)S*dt+sigma*S*dt where rA is the risk free interest rate in currency A, and rB is the risk free interest rate in currency B"

Since the Euro is very high against the Pound, I was looking taking this as good enough a chance to be moving my savings in Euro over to the UK. We're not talking about much, much less than the cash import restrictions of ?10,000, so can take it in cash if needs be. What's the easiest and least costly way of moving this to an account in the UK where it can be converted (best rate?) and paid into...

Can anyone advise whether there is a generally accepted view on this? When making a SWIFT payment from a Euro account in a foreign bank into a sterling account in the UK is it better to do the conversion at the sending bank or the receving bank? In our particular case we are moving 30,000 Euros from a bank in Romania to either the Nationwide BS or NatWest in the UK Any thoughts?

I'm not using any of my capital gains allowance, which seems a bit of a shame, particularly as it feels like I'm funding an awful lot of government expenditure through my basic rate tax. Are there any safe investments that will result in relaible capital gains rather than taxable income, or are they all inherently risky like shares and VCTs?

Now that Nationwide has started charging for EU withdrawals, what's the cheapest way of obtaining foreign currency abroad? For a Eurozone country? (Spain) For an EU country not in the Euro (Norway) For a country in Europe not in the EU (Turkey) For a country outside of Europe (USA)

I know the old coins such as florins and shillings are no longer legal tender, but can they still be exchanged at a bank for decimal money? Thanks, Roland.

I am told that the authorities understand that if you lose your job aged about 62 then you have little chance of getting another one, and they will pay something similar to your pension without needing to sign on, until your real pension is due. Is this true? If so, is it dependant on being sacked rather than choosing to leave the job? Is it also available to the self-employed? My informant...

I have a £140 mobile phone debt on my credit record. This is the only debt in six years but is preventing me from getting credit. The Halifax tell me even if I repay the mobile firm now it may "take months" for the effects/evidence of the debt to clear from my credit file. Is there a way I can speed up this process, I now have the funds but it seems pointless repaying a debt if someone - the...

If I wanted to invest a few hundred pounds in gold coins, something I have no experience of, what would be the best way of doing this? I see that the Royal Mint sells gold sovereigns on-line but I'm not sure how competitive their prices are. Would I be better purchasing from a coin dealer / jeweller / bullion dealer? Is there any advantage in buying foreign coins such as krugerands, or does the...

Hi all, I`m interested in buying small amounts of gold as a long term investment - I`ve got the spare money now and am looking for something nice to sell either when I`m retiring (looking at least 20 years, maybe 30, depending how other things work out :-) ). Anyone got suggestions as to the best way to do this? I`m travelling in Europe and the USA over the next few years, no opportunity...

Hi all just starting to chart gold (metal), have use of metastock v10. Need basic daily datafeed OHLCVI based on London market prices and timings. Any sugestions most welcome.

Hi, If you invest in gold does it mean you physically own some gold bars and have them in your house, in a safe somewhere, under your mattress? Just wondering having seen so many reports of late suggesting gold is a good place to be in the current climate. I suppose, having a piece of paper saying you own so much gold is pretty pointless in a situation where gold has replaced 'paper' money.

Between monetary polices Where are markets heading to? http://www.wepersons.com/Where_are_markets_heading_to.pdf