US dollar in its death throes?

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BC_Gambit

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I'm a Canadian, and have watched with some disbelief as the US government has flushed its currency down the toilet.

I'm wondering what the media have been reporting to the "average" American regarding the devaluation of their currency?

Has it even made the news? Basically the Canadian dollar is at par, and other currencies have had even better runs versus the once mighty greenback.

I see headlines declaring "oil at record $82 a barrel etc.." and almost laugh at how irrelevant that number is. If a currency is going down, the price of international commodites in that dollar are of course going to go up, even if the actual cost to the rest of the world buying the commodity remains the same.

Are Americans even aware of this? Are they aware that people of other nationalities (like me) are greedily eyeing their hard assests and thinking about buying them on the cheap?

Please let me know.

I'm honestly curious if this has hit main street yet. Are prices rising on imported goods etc...
 
Neo Alec

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Yeah, it's mentioned on the news. But it's kind of just glossed over like everything else bad that is going on in the country. People say, "That's bad," and move on. It's just like Iraq and health care, etc. People in this country are used to bad news, and we learn to put it aside and keep moving because there's nothing we can do.
 
Violent Ryo

Violent Ryo

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Yes, many are aware but not enough. And this has been going on for years.

The dollar value has been on a decline for almost a century now.

Takes only a little research to learn why.

Ron Paul is the only candidate talking about this issue and has been talking about it for years, so people like him are our only hope.
 
Zero Satori

Zero Satori

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Sometimes I wonder if the UK only stays with the Pound Sterling because if they switched to the Euro, then the American dollar wouldn't even have a chance anymore. :B: :A: :D:
 
Zero Satori

Zero Satori

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Kucinich could save America.
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He could...but not enough Americans will vote for him. He's not a woman, he's not black, and he's not taking a "middle road" position on the hard issues. But hell, it's off topic, so let's talk more about the American dollar dying now and into the future suck-ass presidencies of this country.
 
smokehouse

smokehouse

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Being an American means having a constant source of bad news crammed down your throat…

We hear about the war everyday…we hear about the crash of the mortgage market everyday…we hear about the flood of illegal Mexicans bringing this country to it’s knees everyday…we hear about the insane soaring healthcare costs everyday…we hear about this stupid stone throwing presidential race everyday…

What’s another log on the fire?

Out country is going to shit and we are constantly reminded of it…
 
C

CrackerMessiah

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Some US citizens do know of it- that is, that the Canadian dollar is nearing parity with the US one.

You'd get a kick out of seeing the reaction I got just about a couple of weeks ago when I mentioned to a friend that the Canadian dollar was trading at 92 cents US.

Now I know what fearful surprise looks like.

But yeah- I'm at a loss to explain it, but the US dollar's value hasn't been going anywhere fruitful in the past few years. The UK pound currently trades at 2 US dollars, the Euro last I checked was about $1.35 and now the Canadian dollar is about to hit parity.

Although with all this currency talk, I can't help but wonder what would happen if the Chinese Yuan were to hit the open market. Its exchange rate is still set by the Chinese government, a sort of strategy that is used by many, um, "non-Western" economies. Should they decide to let their currency join the ranks of the free-floaters... well, there may be more than a headline or two.
 
abasuto

abasuto

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smokehouse said:
Being an American means having a constant source of bad news, trans fat, fried dough and bad sitcoms crammed down your throat…
…
Click to expand...

Fixed
 
bokmeow

bokmeow

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Saw this coming years ago, which is why I held on to the Japanese yen currency that I earned and constantly added to that balance whenever I got a chance to. American dollars haven't been worth shit since the tax cuts.
 
M

Magnaflux

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The flip side of the coin is American manufacturing has gotten a shot in the arm from the weaker dollar.

Companies outside the US are taking advantage of our lower value currency and buying machinery.
 
R

RAINBOW PONY

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So what's going to happen?

I'm not going to buy any Videogames locally here in Canada, because it's $70 + Taxes, when I can buy one online from the US for $50 +shipping, no taxes.

Something has to happen, and I fear it's going to turn out that Canadian prices will skyrocket to compensate.
 
B

BC_Gambit

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DARK ANDY said:
So what's going to happen?

I'm not going to buy any Videogames locally here in Canada, because it's $70 + Taxes, when I can buy one online from the US for $50 +shipping, no taxes.

Something has to happen, and I fear it's going to turn out that Canadian prices will skyrocket to compensate.
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Why on earth would Canadian prices skyrocket to compensate for deals you are getting in the US? That would make things worse. Basically, the companies would be telling you don't even bother buying their items in your own country.
 
Logicdustbin

Logicdustbin

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If you would have asked the 'anylists' a few years ago, they would have said this would be very bad for Canada (our money being at par), but it turns out that its not too bad, right now.

As we still manufacture goods here (well, for now) this means that industry can buy equipment from the US that would have cost near double just a couple years ago.

kinda like me, I've been buying lots 'O stuff from the US, because from my perspective, its very cheap.

And as some one else mentioned, I would rather buy some stuff from the US rather then my local store; such as books - how is it, now that our money = the same, that I buy a paperback for $12 CND, when its listed right there on the back that its only $7 US?


oh, and I'm pretty sure our $ was worth more in my life time - I think it was some where in the 70's, our money was above the US $ ?
 
R

RAINBOW PONY

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BC_Gambit said:
Why on earth would Canadian prices skyrocket to compensate for deals you are getting in the US? That would make things worse. Basically, the companies would be telling you don't even bother buying their items in your own country.
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Well then what?

They can't reduce the price of everything in the US, because that would also just add to the problem of Canadians raping US products.

Then what? Raise the Hourly Wages for everyone in the US, and THEN raise the price of everything, so everything is like how the Canadians have it?
 
R

RAINBOW PONY

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As people have said, Businesses can now buy wholesale things they need from the US for their Canadian companies, because it's much cheaper to do so now.

Which would mean that Canadian companies, for the same price, can get better or more things for themselves, than their US counterparts.
 
Xavier

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Ive noticed, one of my favorite thing to watch is currency.
The dollar has gotten weaker, compared to the Euro, the pound and the CAD.
But look at almost the rest of the world: esp. Asia, when the dollar sinks everybody else sinks with it:

1.00 AUD = 0.855070 USD usually from .60-.75 Close to Canada
1 USD= 116 JPY usually 100-110
1.00 USD = 7.78479 HKD
1.00 USD = 927.452 KRW Usually almost 1,000

So yeah the biggest gainers are Europe, England and Canada
1.00 EUR = 1.39388 USD The Euro opened at .80 USD
1.00 GBP = 1.99781 USD Most of my adult lifetime its at 1GBP=1.5 USD
1.00 USD = 1.01426 CAD Typically at 1CAD=.70USD
 
SPINMASTER X

SPINMASTER X

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lol working on a military base here in Europe where we use dollars and Euros simultaneously, we get to hear it EVERY SINGLE DAMN DAY.
 
Sundance

Sundance

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dark penguin said:
WTF. The Canadian dollar is trading at .99 cents US? This is the first time this has happened in my lifetime.

Time to buy some shit online!



http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/09/18/dollarise.html
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Yeah, i use to look forward to buying things from Canada do to the lower exchange rate. Unfortunately thats not an option anymore. Our currency has steadily sucked and will continue to do so until some countries start paying our loans back, we stop funding a useless war, and we stop exporting our business to other countries and keep the money in-country to drive the country as a whole.
 
norton9478

norton9478

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As long as Canada has that 25% GST/PST, things will still be cheaper in the states.



PS: The weak USD might Save Canadian Sports Franchises.......
 
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