Auction-House Apples and Oranges (Continued)

Yikes! Everyone is misconstruing the figures in Christie’s press release recapping its 2006 sales totals. I won’t name names, but U.S. auction scribes are heedlessly scrambling U.S. dollars and British pounds.
In its press release, Christie’s, which is a London-based company, gives all its figures in both dollars and pounds. But all the percentage increases apply only to the totals in the British currency; the percentage increases would be different if calculated in dollars (which Christie’s doesn’t), because of exchange-rate changes between 2005 and 2006.
So reporters who say: “Christie’s sold $1.2 billion of Impressionist and modern art last year, up 81% from the year earlier,” really ought to be saying “Christie’s sold £664 million of Impressionist and modern art last year, up 81% from the year earlier.” Or else, they need to get the dollar totals for Impressionist/modern in 2005 and 2006, and calculate the percentage increases in dollars.
The confusion continues.