Euro-Differentials

As global-marketing’s enthusiasts have remarked, consumer brands are an international currency. But that doesn’t mean there’s anything rational about the exchange rates. A recent Financial Times article (under the headline ‘Whither the cross-border cornflake?’) remarked on the fact that prices for the same item vary widely from one European Community country to the next, despite the much-touted move toward a single market. A box of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes costs 243% as much in Italy as it does in Britain.