Last week's big EU meeting of leaders to move a bit further along the road to solving the problems of the Eurozone has been a big topic in discussions, as currencies and their movement really affect the business of our clients. At the moment, the recent weakness of the Euro against the dollar has offset some of the potentially beneficial effects on volume of the recent drop in panel prices. Panasonic's problems in its TV business, reported in this issue, must have been made worse by the strength of the Japanese Yen against the Euro, especially as Panasonic has its own vertical supply chain for PDPs and LCDs in Japan, many of the costs for which will be in Yen.

As I write this blog, the implications of the Euro deal are still being understood and analysed. I do not profess to being any kind of expert on currency. I know from experience of having a purchase ledger in Yen with sales income in Pounds and 100% responsibility for currency purchasing decisions, that probably the most dangerous thing in currency dealing is to think that you are clever in this area.

At one time, I was a great fan of the UK joining the Eurozone. One of my questions to those that opposed the UK joining the Euro, was whether they thought that the US would have been as strong if there had been a different dollar for every state? I'm still a believer in strong European economic cooperation, but the current crisis has really pointed to the answer to that question.

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