----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rogerson Kemlo (ELHT) Pathology" 

"we in the UK tend to have to pay £1 for $1 and I don't know why; History 
Channel told me it was about 'lend lease' and some unfair bargaining after 
the 2nd World War by the Americans; is that true?"


When I was growing up in North London in the 50's and early 60's, the excuse 
for high prices was "we still have the debt from the first world war".  I'm 
sure that in negotiations after WW2, the US bargained for its own national 
interest, as did the US (and Canada, and France, and .......).  However, I 
don't think British economic policy has much to do with what happened during 
negotiations over who won the war 60 years ago, pre-EU.

I suspect the real reason for British pound for dollar costs is commercial 
greed and taxes.  Commercial greed is otherwise known as pricing according 
to "what the market will bear", or "gouge the buggers for every penny=20
they've got".  As for taxes, well... bureaucracy costs and the UK has one 
hell of a bureaucracy from what I recall before I emigrated.

Bryan Llewellyn 



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