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Posts by ParisJazz  

Joined: 23 Oct 2007 / Male ♂ 		Last Post: 25 Aug 2008
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ParisJazz   
21 Oct 2008
Life / Getting ripped off in Poland! Is it normal? or should it be tolerated? [97]

but on the surface it appeared to work for a bit.

Given a decently managed currency, a government can not force it to appreciate against major currencies out of thin air even if they "plan" to. As I explained earlier, that will bleed their reserves to death.

Dot not give politicians more credit than they actually deserve.

Economic growth is the key to currency appreciation. Poland has been growing much faster than europe hence the zloty's appreciation.

What the "enlightened leaders" (who pretend to have a plan) did is to basically avoid screwing things up by reining in fiscal deficit and not letting the printing press run loose.

PJ
ParisJazz   
21 Oct 2008
Life / Getting ripped off in Poland! Is it normal? or should it be tolerated? [97]

What is nonsensical about Poland's financial system trying to pad itself so as not to be raped by the Euro as every other nation that changes has been?

Not only is it non nonsensical but suicidal. If the zloty appreciates too much, that will create capital flight in the sense of the locals ditching it for euros and going about buying half of Europe. The central bank would need to hold infinite reserves, which it can’t.

If I recall correctly, Poland wasn’t even sure of being able to guarantee deposits beyond €50K, let alone it being able to afford a zloty at parity with the Euro.

Also, Poland being part of the EU, demand and offer is the sole mechanism setting the general level of prices, regardless of how strong or weak a currency is. This is because Poland can no longer erect any barriers to keep prices artificially high or low. Tweaking the currency basically pits economic agents against one another with no overall gain to the country. Exporters will benefit from a weak currency whereas consumers would benefit from a strong one.

Last but not least, wealth is wealth i.e. tangible and material and a currency is a mere mechanism of exchange of goods and services. Hence even if you set up the zloty to be 10 times the euros, it won’t make Poland richer than Germany.

It will just make foreigners have a good laugh because the country goes bankrupt overnight.

PJ
ParisJazz   
21 Oct 2008
Life / Getting ripped off in Poland! Is it normal? or should it be tolerated? [97]

Price differentials are usually due to the fact that the local market is not efficient enough. Western markets are efficient in the sense of information being available to everyone who seeks it and therefore price differentials would quickly be seen as a profit making opportunities by professional arbitrageurs and will eventually be wiped out. In simpler terms, a product or service put on the market in the west will always attract the highest bidder, be it local or foreigner, in a more or less transparent manner.

In Poland and elsewhere such market efficiency is lacking in many places and sectors. Some locals wouldn't have a clue on how to sell to foreigners and must thus sell to locals at a price lower that what foreigners would otherwise have paid for. Likewise, many foreigners can not wheel and deal in the local bargains and are therefore restricted to inflated prices that most locals wouldn't pay as they have other alternatives.

Now to the bloke who started the thread, surely if uv been living in Poland for over 6 years, u r more or less considered a local. Or are you one of those expats who can barely master a "Witam" and have no local friends at all?

PJ
ParisJazz   
21 Oct 2008
Life / Getting ripped off in Poland! Is it normal? or should it be tolerated? [97]

my impression is that u are yet to get used to the new reality in Poland: it is not that you are getting ripped off, prices are rising high and fast all over the country just like in many other places around the world.

The key here, as someone else noted, is that the locals are happy bargain hunting and living on the cheap, which u r probably unlikely to accept as a living standard and hence the rise in ur cost of living.

I tend to agree with sobieski. Real estate wise, if you intend to buy in Mokotow or Nowy Wilanow, for instance, it doesn't matter what nationality u r. Prices are the same (i.e high) for foreigners and locals alike.

Last but not least, real estate prices are still quoted in US $ in most CIS countries (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakstan ..) so the practice is not that unheard of.

PJ
ParisJazz   
11 Aug 2008
Travel / BUS FROM SZCZECIN TO FRANKFURT....HOW MUCH...? [18]

she is really good at Latvian too

I trust she is also good at a few other things as well, otherwise u wouldn't bother going to such great lengths to sort her out ;-)
ParisJazz   
11 Aug 2008
Travel / BUS FROM SZCZECIN TO FRANKFURT....HOW MUCH...? [18]

so now we are looking at getting her on a bus from Franfurt to Sczcecin....can,t seem to find one tho....nearest place i can see is Frankfurt to Gdansk.

Eurolines would normally take you from any european city to any other one, its just a matter of how much time you can afford as you might have to wait for a connection bus along the road.

Your friend can buy her Eurolines ticket from Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. You can also pay for the ticket online, she then picks it up from there upon turning up with a valid ID.

Doesnt your friend speak any english or german at all? Surely she can just turn up at the hauptbahnhof and she will quickly figure out the best way to reach you.

Her journey will start at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof anyhow as flying is out of the question.