Stopped through London on Tuesday for a brief respite on my way back to San Francisco from Delhi - saw some friends, some sights, took a few pints and a few pictures.
This was my first trip to the former Imperial capitol, and it did not fail to impress; beautiful museums and parks, the infusion of technology into daily life (in Tube stations, cabs, offices, and street signs) as well as extreme diversity in the city's population reflected by the range of clothing, cultures, languages, food, and skin color observable throughout the city. London clearly felt like the most international place I had ever been, and yet, still distinctly British - dozens of castles, parks, pubs and black, bulbous taxis ensured that.
Overall a great visit, worth another soon hopefully, though the 2-to-1 fx ratio keeps it pricey for Americans. But get this - I start chatting with my taxi driver about the exchange rates, and he starts quoting hedge fund managers from London with the latest speculation on the direction of the Pound.
"Down its going," he says, "time for me to re-order my portfolio, need to take some risk out, as well as reduce my exposure to British Pounds."
When was the last time I heard a rickshaw wallah discuss his investment strategies?
Diwali I guess, and then, it was two words: "Buy Gold."
Though to be fair, I have seen Indian taxi drivers trading commodities at computers before - most recently in Pushkar during this year's camel fair.
Once I even heard of a group of Rajasthani spice traders who cornered the market for a particular kind of rare mustard seed simply because they were closer to the source then the traders in London and Mumbai. Therefore they knew what the actual quantities of supply available in the field were, even before the stuff was harvested and priced in the markets...Reminds me of Eddie Murphys' and Dan Akroyd's orange futures from "Trading Places."
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