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Potential implications of Syriza triumph in Greece in terms of currency, rates and billing
Thread poster: Huw Watkins
Richard Purdom
Richard Purdom  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 05:44
Dutch to English
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greece going east then pear-shaped Jan 30, 2015

Syriza is edging towards Russia, I can't see Greece staying in the euro, and if anybody has any second-hand banknote printing presses they could make a mint there, literally.

I won't be accepting drachmas, for sure.

I think Portugal will be OK in the Euro, but like Greece there are a lot of intellectually lazy people here playing the victim card and blaming the troika, instead of looking at what a mess they have made and the fact they keep voting for their friends, irr
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Syriza is edging towards Russia, I can't see Greece staying in the euro, and if anybody has any second-hand banknote printing presses they could make a mint there, literally.

I won't be accepting drachmas, for sure.

I think Portugal will be OK in the Euro, but like Greece there are a lot of intellectually lazy people here playing the victim card and blaming the troika, instead of looking at what a mess they have made and the fact they keep voting for their friends, irrespective of merit.
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Balasubramaniam L.
Balasubramaniam L.  Identity Verified
India
Local time: 11:14
Member (2006)
English to Hindi
+ ...
SITE LOCALIZER
Be optimist Feb 3, 2015

There is very little we as translators can do about these political changes. We will just have to adapt to them. You should now seriously start thinking of diversifying into non-European markets, so that all eggs are not in one basket.

Regarding the Greece issue, I don't think EU or the euro zone is going to break up tomorrow. If at all, it will take months and years for anything precipitous to happen, which will give us a lot of time to move ourselves out of the danger zone.
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There is very little we as translators can do about these political changes. We will just have to adapt to them. You should now seriously start thinking of diversifying into non-European markets, so that all eggs are not in one basket.

Regarding the Greece issue, I don't think EU or the euro zone is going to break up tomorrow. If at all, it will take months and years for anything precipitous to happen, which will give us a lot of time to move ourselves out of the danger zone.

My reading is (as an outsider to EU), that the countries of Europe have no choice but to stand together. In any case, most of them are too small and with ageing population to be viable on their own. They will just have to learn to live together, which admittedly is difficult for countries of Europe which has been the birth-place of the whole divisive idea of the nation-state.

Right now, Germany (and the other economically successful nations of EU) find it disagreeable to share their wealth with the poorer units of EU - Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, etc. - and are imposing austerities on the latter which are proving to be painful for the common citizens there. It seems to me that there is an acute lack of fellow-feeling in the EU which alone can bind the EU into a cohesive unit. People there will have to forget more of their national and cultural identities and merge into a common EU identity, and I feel this has not happened sufficiently, which is the root cause of the acrimony there.

Only a charismatic and visionary leadership can solve these problems, and EU will have to limp towards finding such a leadership. Currently it seems to be drifting into xenophobia and racial extremism which is not going to do any good.

Much of the prosperity of the major European nations is underpinned by the gains of colonialism and imperialism. With this ill-gotten wealth Europe built up an extravagant welfare state which it is now finding difficult to sustain, the colonies having now disappeared. Some belt-tightening is therefore called for, but it will have to be democratically and humanely done so that sufferings are not excessive and don't lead to rebellion. Here again, visionary leadership is sorely being missed.

What can we translators caught in the cross-fire of all this do? Nothing, basically. We can only hope that things will pan out properly, but that may take years and decades. So, simply put, it is pointless to loose our sleep over these things. We are living in momentous times and we should move with the times.
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Dragomir Kovacevic
Dragomir Kovacevic  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 06:44
Italian to Serbian
+ ...
and you didn't have UK on mind? Feb 3, 2015

And you didn't have UK on mind, as well? Of cource, this doesn't matter at all, in your case, because you already work in EUR, following the situations in other EU countries.

Usually, as to my knowledge of economics and finance, a supplier with heavy and constant presence on foreign markets, adapts to local conditions. It could be a most rare case if a foreign car manufacturer, rises the price-list in local market's currency, because of its devaluation.
If you had been invoic
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And you didn't have UK on mind, as well? Of cource, this doesn't matter at all, in your case, because you already work in EUR, following the situations in other EU countries.

Usually, as to my knowledge of economics and finance, a supplier with heavy and constant presence on foreign markets, adapts to local conditions. It could be a most rare case if a foreign car manufacturer, rises the price-list in local market's currency, because of its devaluation.
If you had been invoicing in EUR, I strongly believe that your clients would become offended with other currency, having a full increase of local currency amount, as a result.
You might consider a smaller price increase in EUR, in case you are absolutely certain of your indispensable role for the foreign buyer.
Good luck!

Huw Watkins wrote:

My thoughts have been to potentially swap from billing in EUR to billing in GBP. What are people's impression of this approach?
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Huw Watkins
Huw Watkins  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:44
Member (2005)
Italian to English
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TOPIC STARTER
I can't say I disagree with you, sadly Feb 3, 2015

Richard Purdom wrote:

...but like Greece there are a lot of intellectually lazy people here playing the victim card and blaming the troika, instead of looking at what a mess they have made and the fact they keep voting for their friends, irrespective of merit.


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:44
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Syriza Feb 3, 2015

The only people who don't like this situation are the money speculators who try to get rich by placing bets on how exchange rates will move.

I seem to be seeing a bit of that here - albeit at the very small scale of translators trying to second-guess whether moving their payments into this or that currency would give a better margin, for how long, etc. Not even the big time currency traders know the answers to those questions. It's a gambling game.

The more I see of Sy
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The only people who don't like this situation are the money speculators who try to get rich by placing bets on how exchange rates will move.

I seem to be seeing a bit of that here - albeit at the very small scale of translators trying to second-guess whether moving their payments into this or that currency would give a better margin, for how long, etc. Not even the big time currency traders know the answers to those questions. It's a gambling game.

The more I see of Syriza the more I like it. The changes they are bringing about in the Euro economy are going to be to everyone's benefit because they will establish a better balance across all the different EU economies. Nobody wants them out. On the contrary: everybody has been wondering how to get reform of the EU and here it is, at last. Hooray !

But as I said in an earlier post: it's far too early to say what will happen to your personal money.

[Edited at 2015-02-03 11:20 GMT]
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Huw Watkins
Huw Watkins  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:44
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Not much of a gambler, personally. Feb 3, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

I seem to be seeing a bit of that here - albeit at the very small scale of translators trying to second-guess whether moving their payments into this or that currency would give a better margin, for how long, etc. Not even the big time currency traders know the answers to those questions. It's a gambling game.



[Edited at 2015-02-03 11:20 GMT]


If I'm akin to a speculator, it's 100% involuntary I assure you. I have never liked the idea of billing agencies in EUR because of the fluctuations which can have a huge impact on a hard earned salary.

I, like many other translators working in my language pairs, are forced to quote in the local currency of the agency. When I started out, there just seemed to be more work available in the EU than here at home. While I obviously bill UK clients in GBP, they are not my main source of income.

While some will view all this as a gambling game, I prefer to attempt to mitigate the gambling element and am simply trying to find ways to hedge the risks of currency fluctuations on something I feel I work pretty hard for.

Tom in London wrote:

But as I said in an earlier post: it's far too early to say what will happen to your personal money.

[Edited at 2015-02-03 11:20 GMT]


Actually the ramifications are being felt right now. The EUR has been at a 7-year low.

[Edited at 2015-02-03 11:33 GMT]


 
Huw Watkins
Huw Watkins  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:44
Member (2005)
Italian to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Easier said than done Feb 3, 2015

[quote]Dragomir Kovacevic wrote:

You might consider a smaller price increase in EUR...
[quote]

But yes I essentially agree with what you are saying here. Thanks for the input!


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:44
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Welcome to Europe Feb 3, 2015

Huw Watkins wrote:

.....when I started out, there just seemed to be more work available in the EU than here at home.


You are in the EU, Huw


 
Huw Watkins
Huw Watkins  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:44
Member (2005)
Italian to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Indeed! Feb 3, 2015

That was a bit of a slip there, I assure you I am not a UKIP voter!

The Island mentality slips through occasionally...


 
Josephine Cassar
Josephine Cassar  Identity Verified
Malta
Local time: 06:44
Member (2012)
English to Maltese
+ ...
Reform and 'like Syriza' Feb 3, 2015

Tom in London wrote:

The more I see of Syriza the more I like it. The changes they are bringing about in the Euro economy are going to be to everyone's benefit because they will establish a better balance across all the different EU economies. Nobody wants them out. On the contrary: everybody has been wondering how to get reform of the EU and here it is, at last. Hooray !
I think the EU badly needs reform, but I notice Tsipras has already toned down his discourse-though he is
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Tom in London wrote:

The more I see of Syriza the more I like it. The changes they are bringing about in the Euro economy are going to be to everyone's benefit because they will establish a better balance across all the different EU economies. Nobody wants them out. On the contrary: everybody has been wondering how to get reform of the EU and here it is, at last. Hooray !
I think the EU badly needs reform, but I notice Tsipras has already toned down his discourse-though he is trying to get Italy and France on board to support him. It is one thing pledging to do away with austerity-and write off debt-and actually doing so.

It is the country concerned itself that must strive for a better balance-by not cooking its books (Goldman Sachs come to mind) and working to get there just as Spain has managed to do though there is far more needed to decrease the unemployment levels. But why should we pay for Greece's debts? We already paid enough and want to be paid back, not have the debt written off which it won't be. I doubt Greece will exit and sincerely hope not, for its sake, but it is up to it. After all, they chose their leaders, now they must pay for their mistakes and spendthrift attitude. We'll see if they leave how they will cope with the rampant corruption there still is, or is Russia going to help them out? That has been repudiated by Tsipras but who believes him?

[Edited at 2015-02-03 15:07 GMT]
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Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:44
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Krugman Feb 3, 2015

Spendthrift? Since the crisis, all that money lent to the Greeks to "bail them out" actually went to the banks. Apart from the rich who didn't pay their taxes, the Greeks just got poorer and poorer. They weren't spending anything at all, nor was the Greek state, which was laying people off, withdrawing healthcare, and reducing itself to penury.

Paul Krugman explains: "to oversimplify things a bit, you can think of European policy as involving a bailout, not of Greece, but of credito
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Spendthrift? Since the crisis, all that money lent to the Greeks to "bail them out" actually went to the banks. Apart from the rich who didn't pay their taxes, the Greeks just got poorer and poorer. They weren't spending anything at all, nor was the Greek state, which was laying people off, withdrawing healthcare, and reducing itself to penury.

Paul Krugman explains: "to oversimplify things a bit, you can think of European policy as involving a bailout, not of Greece, but of creditor-country banks, with the Greek government simply acting as the middleman"

http://www.stokokkino.gr/details_en.php?id=1000000000003813/Europes-Greek-Test

Debtocracy is a 2011 documentary film by Katerina Kitidi and Aris Hatzistefanou. The documentary mainly focuses on two points: the causes of the Greek debt crisis in 2010 and possible future solutions. Watch it here:

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/debtocracy/

[Edited at 2015-02-03 16:11 GMT]
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Potential implications of Syriza triumph in Greece in terms of currency, rates and billing







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