Credit crunch is not enough of a reason for prices to go up 75-odd percent, though. :( We're not that badly off compared to USD. Even compared to the Euro (where we've had the worst fluctuations) it's still not more than about 40%.
But hey, I've been looking at the post-Christmas sales this year with disgust. They've not been very good, except in the very specialist areas of stuff like sofas and chairs. Sure, the ads look good (Up To 50% Off! or Prices From Just 99p!) but it's the Up To and From that are the important words.
For example, underneath a huge banner that said "Prices From 99p!" there was not a single item that cost less than £29.99... and that was exactly the same price that it had been a month before and two months before. The only things that have come down are the perishable goods - I picked up three boxes of chocolate ginger in Tesco's a couple of days back for less than a single box cost before Christmas. ;)
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