I live in the UK and am about to remotgage my house.  I have been
given a very competitive quote for the next 10 years. This has been
achieved by tracking usa (LIBOR Quarterly) rather than uk base
interest rates.  I know that over the last few years that American
interest rates have been lower than ours has this always been the
case?  Are there any economic indicators that point to USA interest
rates rising sharply in the next 10 years.  I am looking for a
comparison of interest rates betwen these two countries over the past
20 years (yearly averages will be ok)but any sharp spikes intresting. 
I am also interested in any information that indicates future changes
in interest rates in either country.  I suspect that EU monetary union
is more than 10 years away for the uk but such  economic changes could
have a marked impact on interest rates.

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Clarification of Question by enigmaga-ga on 08 May 2005 04:52 PDT

doh - Subject should be 'UK and USA Interest Rates' not exchange rates.

The raw data for the two LIBORs can be found here:

LIBOR - US - List
http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/libor/day-us3m

LIBOR - UK - List
http://www.economagic.com/em-cgi/data.exe/libor/day-uk3m

Although one can see it on screen, exporting it to say Excel requires
a subscription ( $10 )
- and they have been a bit tricky with the HTML to make it hard to cut and paste.

Not that it would prevent anyone moderately determined getting at the data.

I assume that your repayments will be in GBP - not USD
- otherwise you are exposing yourself to one heck of a risk

There are other things to consider, if a change of job forces you to
repay the mortgage early the settlement terms could be onerous
- you need to make sure that the loan is totally transferable

Another thing is that LIBOR is a lot more volatile than the Bank Rate
- even if you are paying on an average, a few spikes could be painful

Also, watch out, we might well be in for rising interest rates, as you
can see the recent low rates are 'unusual' since 1987

Personally I would be very cautious:
http://www.nationwide.co.uk/mortgage/moving-your-mortgage/interest-rates-remortgaging-fixed-rate-mortgages.htm

Thank you for the links frde - and the advice.  I think I will stick
to a uk tracker.  The repayments were in £ sterling not US $ I would
have been tied into the mortgage for 10 years with 6% reducing to 3%
early redemption penalties.   The savings I could have made are not
enough to justify the risk.

Again many thanks this has helped me make up my mind.