Household wires (such as lamp cord) often carry currents of several amps. Why do no magnetic effects how up near such wires?
They do, they're just very, very, very small. Every time you have current running, you will have a magnetic field, oriented according to the right hand rule. Electromagnets work not because of the strength of the tiny magnetic fields in the coils of wire, but because they influence the dipoles in the ferromagnetic material in such a way that they line up and create a large magnetic field. But yes, your lamp cord has a magnetic field. If you had the proper equipment, you'd be able to measure it.
