The dollar's sharp decline

[Rune hunter]

I'm sure most of you guys have felt the decline of the dollar. My family and my country has benifited and at the same time been severely affected by it.

From a micro side of things my dad is now earning less becouse he is being payed in dollars. But at the same time I'm at least not paying as much for imported goods(It would be pretty hard for me to buy books/ video games if the dollar was still as high as it was a few years ago.)

It has also prevented an astronomical rise in transportation expense. Considering oil prices are at there highest in a decades i don't want to think about paying around P10.00 per ride(that is around 25 US cents).

On a macro level the decline in the dollar means our country's debt are slowly shrinking. But it also means a decline in the value of our exports.

Well what's yourt take on the fall of the dollar? Is it a boon or a bust for you and your countries circumstances?

[Elc]

As a Canadian, I don't see the current state of the US dollar as much cause for concern. Of course, it has good points (cheaper to import from the US) but also bad points (the Canadian dollar is stronger, which could see business declining in favour of a cheaper alternative).

Considering how the Canadian dollar usually has a lower value than the US dollar (sometimes significantly lower) I don't have much sympathy over the perceived "panic" of the US dollar. Speaking from a Canadian standpoint, the bulk of our exports is to the US, so it is really the main currency which we are concerned about in terms of the value against our own dollar and, with our dollar having been worth less than the US dollar for the better part of the last thirty years, what appears to be a relatively brief decline in the value of the US dollar makes me think this "panic" is an overreaction.
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"You make me smash the clock and feel, I'd rather die behind the wheel.
Time was never on my side, So on I wait my whole lifetime."

[SwissStopwatch]

To be quite honest? For most small, everyday purchases in the United States, one would not really notice that the dollar is weaker. The strength of the dollar does not generally impact the price of milk, cola, chicken, lettuce, or whatever it is you buy on a trip to the grocery store. Book, CD, and DVD prices (which many of us have probably dealt with recently, given the season) also do not seem to have drastically changed. So no, it hasn't really impacted me, at least. This is more the kind of thing you hear about than feel, although I could see it mattering for certain purchases.

Also on that subject, the U.S. Dollar seems to have recovered somewhat (partially bounced back from the extreme, perhaps; that can be seen in many sciences, so why not economics?). It's actually hovered around being nearly equal to a Canadian Dollar, lately, give or take a few cents (or fractional cents) depending on the exact day.

[RedCydranth]

[Elzamine]

Lol, I have to laugh. The Canadian cities close to the borders had to deal with this every Christmas when the American dollar was up significantly over this. Considering the two dollars are more or less taken as par, or close to, at the moment. The Christmas rush for the states this year compared to some of the rushes the Canadian's had when there was a huge difference on the two. I understand the price differences in things eventually evened things out a bit, but even still, with the American dollar at it's highest and the Canadian one at it's lowest, the difference was enough to still draw the American's to shop here.

Slowly but surely, Canadian prices on items are dropping to be more in tune with the American prices, which is nice. Sure the drop in the dollar is being watched, but as for a panic or crisis, I don't think I'd go that far. Living in Canada though, I'm used to paying the high price for things.

The good side of things is that Canadian prices are dropping, and that makes me happy. It's also affordable to order in fabrics and such for my art now that the prices are more balanced. I'm rather happy with the American dollar dropping (sorry Americans) but if things keep as they are, then Canadians can stop paying 30-60% more on retail items, which I think is just absurd, considering the rise of the Canadian dollar over the last few years. When I pay 90 for an item here, but can cross the border to Maine and pay 60, you can be sure I bloody well notice.

The problem with the mass wave of Canadians shopping in America, is that the Canadian retail near the borders really hurts. I happen to be in a border region. Retail sales are quite a bit down, which means for most basic retail, hours are down, too. You gain some, you lose some.

The thing a lot of Canadian's forget though, is buying electronics. Remember, if you buy an electronic in the states, if it catches fire and burns your house down or whatever, insurance doesn't cover it ^^ Info a lot of people, surprisingly, didn't know!

(Just a side note to Red's comment about Canadian's being more polite, haha. I've heard that a lot, actually. I remember when some American's I knew were visiting. The woman at the convenience store asked if I wanted a straw, and I said yes please. They were amazed by the question and answer, saying they were never that polite. Also that we said excuse me to pass by people in aisles. Haha, it's funny. I'm in the maritimes (eastern Canada) and the people are known for being really polite out here though. Small population gets you that, I suppose. Not to nit and nag on Amercans vs Canandian's though. I've been treated politely in America, and rudely in Canada, so it really depends where you are!)
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-My DeviantArt-

[SwissStopwatch]

What I mean to say is that the changes are such that you don't notice them unless you're really looking. And you have to buy most of these things anyway, or at last something similar. Sure, things are more expensive, but not in such a way that you recoil upon looking at the price tag every day, like you would if you went shopping tomorrow and saw that a gallon of milk suddenly cost $20.

[Leb]

Any analyst will tell you that a weak dollar, for certain periods of time, is a very good thing. Of couse, any other nation would have hit a recession by now, but US economy is robust enough to keep it afloat for a nearly indefinite amount of time. So long as the annual budget is shaved down bit by bit and oil doesn't suddenly run dry, it'll bounce back.

[Sai Fujiwara]

A weak dollar can help the US economy, because it makes American-produced goods less expensive and more attractive to foreign buyers. I could care less about the current state of the dollar, so long as it doesn't cause a drastic inflation problem here, and thus causing the price of American goods in America to rise dramatically. As long as this doesn't happen, and the price of goods here stay consistent, I really won't care how our currency fares against another currency. I don't travel abroad, or import, so it doesn't affect me or any other average American.

The only people who should be concerned are economists, Federal Reserve Board Members, and entrepreneurs / business executives. If you're not among those, then you're just a fool buying into the regular asinine hype that our stupid, American media loves to thrive on.
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Happily Married to the Lovely Lady Chris Lightfellow! :D

[shikator]

I hate this dollar decline thing, WHY its because our currency(peso) is increasing its value.I hate that fact because overseas workers suffer from this decline....Dollars declining prices going up,that dosent realy make any sense at all
IF the dollar is going down and the peso increasing then prices here in the philippines shoud go down, but unforunatly the opposite is happening.

But dollars is a consistenet currency. I am sure a month or two from now it will go back to its original value......God i hope this happens this will benefit alot of overseases filipino workers.

[Fundertaker]

Don't worry too much about it. Either the "automatic mechanisms" will do the work themselves and put the dollar back where it was, or the government/Federal Reserve will take measures to do that. Either that or the US will go down in flames like something only seen in the big depression.
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Tinto: Kicking Asses is our Speciality


This post is officially Fundertaker Approved

[Rune hunter]

[eXistence of Fly]

[Ujitsuna]

The dollar will keep declining as long as it keeps getting printed by the Federal Reserve without anything backing it, inflation will go through the roof and the value of the currency will go down. The only reason it's lasted so long is because the dollar is the reserve currency of the world, however the more consumer based America becomes, the less reliant other countries will be on it when their currencies gain value.

[Amyral]

[zincbrain]

Well as long as the oil money keeps coming in and i do not have to pay income tax all is well.
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"An eye for an eye only makes the whole world blind" Mohandis K Gandhi