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| Don't Fear The Weaker Dollar — It's Keeping The Economy Afloat |
| 2007-12-04 |
| The plunge in the dollar has turned normally calm voices strident and fearful. A weak currency, they say, spells catastrophe for the U.S. economy. But like much conventional wisdom, this isn't true. Nor is it true that the dollar, to use one favorite recent word, has "collapsed." You wouldn't know it, however, from recent headlines. This week's Economist magazine, known for its cool-headed discussion of economic events, has this on its cover: "The Panic About the Dollar." Others see in the dollar's slump a metaphor for America's future — one of decline and waning influence in the world. |
| Posted by:anonymous5089 |
| #13 Seafarious - as an added benefit you won't need a gym membership. Just carry around some spare change. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2007-12-04 21:07 |
| #12 Personally, I'm going long on Yap. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-12-04 19:48 |
| #11 Go ahead - go look up fiat money and see what it is (and isn't) and how it behaves (and doesen't) |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-12-04 13:54 |
| #10 g: Well, business cycles are all very well and good, but this isn't the Ringgit or Baht or Ngultrum we're talking about here. This is the U.S. Dollar, and its current state of crappy value is scaring off tons of people who will not come back. The British pound once bought $8. It now buys $2. The yuan used to buy $0.50. Now it buys about $0.14. Last I heard, both the pound and the yuan are still accepted as payment for goods. People will always be back. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2007-12-04 12:47 |
| #9 The money traders may be upset but the working folks will really appreciate this in the long run. And may the companies that just built factories in China and then bragged about not having to look at the US for production stew in their own juices. This weakening of the dollar will reduce the number of jobs going off-shore and may even put factories back in Mexico so the illegals will go home to work (per VW's and Airbus's announcement of possible new factories in US or Mexico). And no, I am not pro-union, just pro-blue collar. |
| Posted by: Throger Thains8048 2007-12-04 12:27 |
| #8 It's like taking a pay-cut so you can work more, and describing that as good news. How??? Unless you took an actual pay cut -- how has your purchasing power been impacted? |
| Posted by: dan 2007-12-04 11:56 |
| #7 They will always come back gromky. We buy most of the world's shit, therefore they will be back. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-12-04 11:32 |
| #6 The weak dollar is terrible news, it means we may be inflicted with waves of Eurotourists and their unwashed ways and monopoly money when we should be over in Europe talking too loud and asking where the McDonald's is and why no free refills on the sodas. The world is upside down. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-12-04 11:25 |
| #5 Well, business cycles are all very well and good, but this isn't the Ringgit or Baht or Ngultrum we're talking about here. This is the U.S. Dollar, and its current state of crappy value is scaring off tons of people who will not come back. |
| Posted by: gromky 2007-12-04 11:05 |
| #4 Take Boeing, for example. They like being able to undercut Airbus. |
| Posted by: mojo 2007-12-04 11:05 |
| #3 A weak dollar isn't horrible. Just like a strong dollar isn't all good. This is just the typical up and down swing of currency. While true, a weak dollar means less buying power here at home and makes travel a hell of a lot more expensive, on the flip side it makes exports from the US a lot cheaper (see industrial durable goods sales up). The dollar had a nice strong run and was, IMHO overvalued. It is only balancing out like the housing market. The bubble popped and we are returning to equilibrium. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2007-12-04 09:58 |
| #2 Like "global warming," it is part of an ongoing cycle. It's been lower than it is now before, and stronger after that... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2007-12-04 09:52 |
| #1 O dear me. It's like taking a pay-cut so you can work more, and describing that as good news. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2007-12-04 09:24 |