The Burden of The Pound

While there are many things about England that I do like, the prices drive me up the wall. In economics there is a concept known as the purchasing power parody, which basically states that a good in one country will cost relatively as much as the same good to a person in another country. While this theory is not completely true, in loose terms it is true that people usually pay more where the currency is stronger and the cost of living is more expensive. With the pound sterling trading at roughly 1.7 times the dollar everything in London seems painfully expensive; everything seems to cost twice what it does in the U.S. For this reason, if I ever lived here I would have to be getting paid in pounds.

This however, would not resolve the whole problem. Apparently, it isn't simply the exchange rate that makes things seem expensive here, many Londoners also have been complaining, and even protesting, regarding the prices.

For some reason, this seems to be the case with strong currencies. Prices in many parts of the Euro Zone are too high to stimulate adequate growth, due to fiscal policy that is innapropriate to all but a few of the most devloped and economically sound of it's members. While the recent British austerity measures and their current monetary policy are necessary for the country's long term financial health, the fact remains that it causes unavoidable difficulty for people on the ground.