...that the Canadian dollar becomes worth more than the US dollar? as I type this, on http://www.xe.com the Canuck buck is now worth 99.855 US cents. Less than two tenths of a cent now separate the two currencies. The US dollar's been tanking and the Loonie has been surging. Today is very likely the day that history is made - our dollar hasn't been worth more than the US dollar since the late 60's/early 70's.
...And it sucks. When I first started selling on eBay I was making 55 cents exchange on every dollar. Now, just five years later I'm actually losing a few cents (banks still take their conversion fees). Comparing the pre 9/11 exchange rate with the current one, I'm losing about $1500-$2000 a month in exchange. I can only imagine how large corporations are affected.
Sucks to be me...:punchballs:
and yet magazines and books still sell for several dollars different. i never understood the exchange rate between the canadollar versus the american dollar... we do sooo much business between the two, it'd just be easier if they were equal.
Why is it that every time someone named Bush is in the White House the US economy takes a dump?
i'm a diehard republican, but clinton did a good job with the economy.
I should be President. Though, the changes that I would want to make, I would probably get shot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_money (http://"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_money")
So,will you take $10.00 for a sequential taillight kit since our money isn't worth anything anyway?Do you have lay-a-way?
Clinton didn't do anything with the economy. It ballooned and crashed as he was leaving office amid corporate greed and scandal.
Do you recall the Republicans shutting down the gov't trying to balance the budget? That and Greenspan's interest rates helped consumer confidence and gave the economy a kick.
I remember the Republicans shutting down the gov't trying to impeach a liar... imagine that, a lying politician...
Now, back on topic: It's almost like it's the early 70's all over again. When you think about it there's a lot of deja vu going on:
- A recent surge in interest rates has caused hundreds of thousands of people to lose their homes as their "low payments" double, triple, and more, thus causing a reduction in home values (meaning that the single largest asset of most people is now worth less). Back then this was actually more of a late 70's/early 80's thing, but it's starting to happen again (the recent desperate, band-aid, very-temporary-solution rate reduction aside)
- Although there is no REAL shortage of oil, there's a perceived shortage that has caused energy prices to skyrocket. You can tell there's no real shortage because they haven't had to ration fuel and stations don't have "no gas" signs, but a "perceived" shortage is putting the screws to everyone. Back then it was the "Arab Oil Embargo" that killed large and fast cars.
- This, combined with a sudden public interest in pollution is prompting a semi-serious look at alternative energy sources and is also threatening to drastically impact the auto industry, which had been focusing more on size and performance than economy lately, but is now starting to tout fuel economy and "carbon footprint". Back then it was "Smog" that was on everyone's minds.
- The US government is wasting billions of dollars every day on an increasingly unpopular war with no clear victory or exit strategy in sight - parallels of Viet Nam
- Manufacturing jobs are heading out of the country as imported goods make up more and more of consumer purchases - what happened to the electronics industry, and is now happening to the automotive industry, is now spreading to just about everything else including food
- The Russians (and North Koreans, and Iranians, and Chinese) are ruffling feathers by saying "Yeah, we're developing weapons, try and stop us" - Cold War Revisited...
History has an amazing way of repeating itself...
Those who don't learn from it are doomed to repeat it.
Somehow I see things getting worse before they get better.... Too bad Ronnie Regan died.... even having Alzheimer's, he'd be a better leader than what we've had in the past 12 years.
It sucks you are losing that much money Carm. I personally don't get the whole "ours is worth more than yours" thing anyway... to me, a buck is a buck.
i think we need to look into basing the value of a dollar off something other then gold and see how that goes. if they decided to base it off the cost of oil... we'd all be rich. lol.
Yeah, but the Arabs would still be richer!
s! what is a country to do?
Hey, can you guys lower the price of up there now?
I paid big dollars for food etc. the last couple of times I was in Ottawa thinking that the Canadian dollar was the reason for it! Now I realized I was just ripped off. Good thing the company was picking up the tab ('cept for the T-shirts I got the kids :P )
We'd like to see prices come down, and in fact there is a very slowly growing vocal discontent about the fact that although our dollar is worth more we're still paying the same prices. There's actually an article about it in today's paper - a Chevy Colorado has a base price of about $16k in the USA, while an identical model is priced starting at $22k in Canada. It would certainly be good to be a car dealer in a border town right now...
Actually it'd be good to be any bordertown retailer - some other examples the paper gives are Sony camcorders that are $299 in USA and $449 in Canada, books which are $35 in USA and $45 in Canada, iPods which I forget the price difference but it's like $40...
...oh, and yesterday WAS the day - the Canadian dollar went up to 1.00008 US dollars around lunch time before retreating. The retreat was temporary though - it is right now worth 1.00058, so it's worth more than the US buck again...
Man, I think it is the PERFECT time to make a summit run again..... Maybe next weekend if it stays like this....:bowdown:
i scene this on south park
BLAME CANADA