Quote:
Originally Posted by Mercutio
The pound is now stronger against the Euro compared to 1999 (see chart below) and in the same time period Britain's GDP per capita by both nominal and PPP measures has overtaken France's and Germany's - so the ranking would clearly not be the same as in 1999.
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Wrong, and wrong. The exchange rate of the pound vs the euro now is pretty much the same as in 1999. In 1999 the average exchange rate for that year was 1 pound = 1.51912 euros. Today (February 12, 2007) the exchange rate is 1 pound = 1.50354 euros, i.e. almost the same. In 2006 the average exchange rate was 1 pound = 1.46725 euros, which means the pound was worth less than in 1999. Do your homework being posting your messages. You can find historical exchange rates on
http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory
As for GDP, the UK registered significantly higher growth rate as a whole than either France or Germany in recent years (although things are changing now), but not London.
Compare London with Paris for instance. According to the French national statistics office INSEE, Greater Paris's total output (measured as GDP at constant prices) registered 2.01% growth per annum between 1999 and 2004 (the last year available). According to Greater London Authority and Experian Business Strategies, in the same time period (1999-2004) Greater London's total output (measured as GVA at constant prices, a measure identical to GDP at constant prices) registered a 2.10% growth per annum. So the growth rate of both metropolises was almost identical over these five years overall.
In the past 10 years the best year for Greater London was 1998 with 5.62% growth compared to previous year. For Greater Paris the best year was 1999 with 5.51% growth compared to previous year. On the other hand, Greater London experienced recession from the fourth quarter of 2001 to the first quarter of 2003, whereas Greater Paris experienced no recession. The worst year in Greater Paris was 2004 with only 1.16% growth, whereas the worst year in Greater London was in 2002 with negative growth (recession) of -0.51%.
Again, you should have done your homework.