I’m sick of the negative media. For months I’ve been convinced that if, instead of going for sensational headlines of doom, the press were just a little more optimistic – balanced even – then the financial markets would probably sort themselves out. Even though that’s probably a bit too optimistic, having spoken to a wide range of business analysts in the last few months on the subject, I’m firmly convinced that even if reporting good news wouldn’t help, reporting all this exaggerated bad news is certainly making things worse.

Sadly, it’s not just the news-hounds who hate people having a good attitude. Baroness Shriti Vadera has been publicly shamed today for daring to voice optimism in this current economic climate. According to the Tories (who I supposedly support), saying “I am seeing a few green shoots” demonstrates how out of touch and insensitive she is…

The trouble is, no-one wants to admit the question that this was in response to. According to Sky News, the question asked was when would we be seeing green shoots – so the words themselves were put in her mouth by the reporter. No-one seems to want to discuss that…

Not only that, but it’s true. As I was driving home today, Radio 2 was talking about the thousands of new jobs – a little research finds that both Tesco and Sainbury’s are looking to expand into new stores, creating over 10,000 new jobs between them. That’s surely a green shoot?

The best comment about it I’ve heard was that Norman Lamont said this “at the height of the last depression”. So… that’d be just as it was turning around then?

Supposedly, this site is an advert for Compare the Market (dot com), where you can compare quotes for all kinds of things – insurance, credit cards, mortgages etc.

To be honest though, I think Compare the Meerkat is an entertaining website in its own right (although the annoying voice-over is, well, annoying).  Even if it is viral marketing… I like it!

Why is it, that in these times of global financial crisis, when loans are supposedly harder to get, I’m getting more offers of Credit Cards in the post than I’ve ever had in my life?  Even BT wants me to have one now!

Expatriates (see, I do know the right spelling) are people temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person’s upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin ex (out of) and patria (country, motherland).

Now, there are many reasons to leave your home country.  War, famine, oppression, love – these are all good and valid reasons to move away from something that perhaps you have no control over (or in the case of love, a valid reason to move to a new country).  However, in recent times, the tendancy has been for the British to move away, not for legal or ethical reasons, but to enjoy better weather and lower cost of living.

I have no problem with people moving to a new country for any reason.  What gets my goat though is people who expect to be able to have their cake and eat it too.  Today’s Jeremy Vine show on BBC Radio 2 included a wonderful call from a lady who had willingly chosen to leave old Blighty and move to the warmer climes of the South of France (or Spain – whatever), yet was immensely put out that this left her unable to benefit from the best savings deals at her particular English banking establishment.  For once Jeremy agreed with my views on the subject – and in not so many words told her to quit whining – there’s pros and cons to every decision to move, and oh dear, this was a con.

The other side of the coin of course is the asylum seekers and foreign immigrants who leave their home countries for slightly more pressing reasons – political oppression, famine, war, poverty etc. – and yet expect to be able to continue living by the laws of the country they left behind.  This is no more acceptable than Mrs Jones expecting all the benefits of English banking when in France, and should be seen as just as ridiculous.

For some reason though, the opposite has taken place.  Despite leaving their homelands for the freedom and equality of the British Empire (all 3 islands of it), Muslims moving to this country seem determined to maintain the laws – that would be lack of freedoms – from their homelands.  In fact, Sharia law has now been adopted by the UK.

You know what – I have a theory: This isn’t immigration or asylum seeking – it’s just a very slow invasion!

Okay – that’s a bit extreme… but what else do you call it when a large number of people move into a country and start changing the laws and culture to suit themselves?

Today, I’ve finally hit my payout target on Google Ads.  I’ve been using it a while now (is that non-specific enough to pass the Terms and Conditions?), so it was actually quite a surprise.  Interestingly though, I’ve done far better than I might have if I’d had a few more clicks a few months ago – since Google pays out in US Dollars, I’m nearly 50% better off thanks to the crappy value of the Pound these days…

The first hit on my search for the value was of course the ever useful XE.com, which has long been my first port of call for exchange rates – well, until Google started giving you the result directly from the search though.  My second hit though, was someone with a far more useful perspective.  This chap has very sensibly worked out how USD and GBP compare when it comes to buying power at home – the details that really matter.

In this case, it really depends on what you’re buying.  For technology, you never could have got the fabulous 2:1 ratio – even at the best (or worst) of the exchange rates, a $299 iPod Touch was still £199; for food, $5 and £5 are basically the same – when it comes to McDonalds meals.

In fact, this is an officially accepted standard for measuring currency – the so-called Big Mac Index.

So, instead of panicking about deflation, hyper-inflation or recession, just check out your local McDonalds – until the price of a burger starts changing, I’m not going to worry!