BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $

Subject: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 12:59 PM

Well, the US $ has sunk to a 30 year low against most other currencies, and the Canadian dollar is now at parity with it for the first time since 1976.

A Canadian dollar was worth 62 cents American in 2002. It's now worth just a hair over $1.00 American, and is expected to go as high as maybe $1.05 American in the near future.

This is great if you're a Canadian buying from the USA or shopping across the border.

It's a disaster if you're a Canadian exporter, getting paid in US dollars for your Canadian-made goods. The Canadian exporting sector has reportedly lost about 400,000 jobs so far due to this falling American dollar.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 01:06 PM

If that isn't enough to alarm everybody I don't know what it would take.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 02:42 PM

It's just as much a disaster for those of us who import from Canada to the US- our costs (in US dollars) have risen by 61 percent.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Ebbie
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 03:01 PM

Definitely not a good time for Americans to go traveling. Think it will change? I hesitate to add "will right itself" because perhaps this is how it should be.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 03:02 PM

They were talking about this in relation to the Euro on a lunchtime radio talk show. Means travel out of the US is expensive for US Americans, but anyone else coming here will get a bargain, so there will be some benefit to this situation.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 03:52 PM

How about that, eh, Dick (Greenhaus)? My business is export to the USA. I only WISH I dared to raise my prices by 61%!!! I'd be in good shape then. As it is, I raised them a year ago by 16% and have just raised them again by about 10% and I am tightening the old belt, as you may imagine.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Barry Finn
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 03:57 PM

HeHeHe, anyone want to venture whose at fault.

Barry

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: EBarnacle
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 05:21 PM

As one of the companies I deal with is Canadian and they manufacture our equipment, I have been watching the sinking dollar with horror. Among other things, it means that we cannot quote a firm price to our customers. We can only say "about $450 per unit." You can imagine how well that goes over. First we have to sell product then we have to sell price. Wonderful...feh.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 05:34 PM

In 1955 the Canadian dollar was equivalent to about $1.09 U. S. Canada was riding high.

Should Canadians buy U. S. dollars now in the expectation that the Canadian dollar will sink again? Probably.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 06:59 PM

These things are cyclical...just like waves on the ocean. The Canadian dollar will most certainly sink again at some point, the only question is WHEN? I hope sooner, not later.

Next time it is low I will have to remember this and put aside more of the extra money for leaner times.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: bobad
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 07:57 PM

Canada's dollar peaked at $2.65 in July 1864, when it appeared that Union forces were losing the U.S. Civil War, according to the Bank of Canada's official history. The Province of Canada dollar was adopted as the national currency after Canada gained independence from the U.K. in 1867.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 08:01 PM

Wow. It would be interesting to see a chart of the Cd dollar's ups and downs over the last hundred or so years.

I thought that July 1864 was the point at which the Confederates chances of winning evaporated completely (after their defeat at Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg).

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: pdq
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 08:11 PM

Now that market forces have caused the US and Canadian currency to reach equal value, they should be locked there permanently.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 08:13 PM

Excuse me....Gettysburg and the fall of Vicksburg were in July of 1863. Gettysburg was fought on July 1st to 3rd. Vicksburg fell on July 4rth. That was effectively the turning point of the war.

So why did the Canadian dollar hit its highest point a year later when the Confederacy was being ground down by Grant and Sherman? I don't get that.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 20 Sep 07 - 08:15 PM

I very much doubt that it will be permanent, pdq. Nothing like that is ever permanent. I predict that they will shortly be unequal again...though in which direction...well, that's a little hard to say at the moment.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: gnu
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 06:14 AM

I recently heard Bill Maher say on The Tonight Show that the US military is spending $2B a week. Could that have something to do with the devaluation?

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 12:06 PM

Just yesterday Bush was telling us how well the economy was doing.
   I still plan on visiting Quebec next summer for the quadricentennial no matter where the respective dollars stand in relationship to each other, but I fear this may keep many Americans at home. After all, for years the biggest selling point of Canadian tourism has been the comparative high value of the U.S. Dollar. This evening out of the Loonie and the Buck, coupled with the new passport requirement could put a major dent in a major Canadian industry, U.S.
tourism. This in turn could help devalue the Loonie and the circle would be complete.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 01:29 PM

I had a look at a historical chart about the Canadian and US dollar rates. They've fluctuated a great deal over the past 150 years. There have been a few times when the Canadian government fixed the rate for a period of time, but usually only a few years. 8 years in one case. Then they always decided to let it float again for whatever reason, and the rate would start changing. The Canada dollar has been higher than the US dollar, it's been lower, depends on when. On average over the long haul it's been a little bit lower. It hit rock bottom in 2002. That was when I should've saved all the extra cash that was coming in from the high US $. ;-)

The only prediction that is guaranteed to be right is this one: It's gonna change again.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Bee
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 01:38 PM

US tourism to Canada has taken a huge hit in recent years anyway. Even when our dollar was low, people had border crossing fears, our gas prices were high. The passport issue is gonna be sticky. But at least for however long it lasts those of us who deal with US tourists will be spared some of the arguments about how much they get back for their dollars, and how they can make the bill come out even, so they don't end up with any Canadian coins. I always so want to point out that in Boston I had to trot around to the one bank which would even change Canadian dollars, let alone passing it out as legal tender in a shop. I understand Maine is easier this way.

Other than that exasperating issue, most of the US tourists I've dealt with have been perfectly pleasant - just anal about their dollars.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Metchosin
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 01:55 PM

I doubt the negativity regarding the Canadian tourist industry will have much affect on the value of the Loon. The Canadian dollar pretty much tracks now with the value of oil, particularly since Canadian oil has to be bought in Canadian dollars, not US dollars as is the case in a lot of other oil producing countries.

There has been recent threats from American companies investing in the Alberta oil patch about collecting their marbles and going home. This was in response to a report advising the government of Alberta to raise royalties on Canadian oil, which would cut into the profits of large oil companies and also raise uncertainties.

Some pundits have responded to the threats by saying, "Go ahead, go home and get your oil from Iran or Nigeria if needs be, there are other customers and investors waiting in the wings." Think Japan and China.

Considering that it will probably take all the royalties raised, just to get the Athabasca River flowing again after they are through with it and have drained it dry, perhaps raising royalties would be prudent. BG

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 01:57 PM

They live in a country that thinks as if it was the entire world.

The Romans were probably like that too.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Ebbie
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 02:06 PM

Hey, don't equate mega-business with the American people. Mega-business tends to be the same world wide; its mission is money.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 02:14 PM

Canadian banks are allowed to deal in foreign currencies while only designated banks in the U. S. are allowed to do so. Most U. S. banks have to send the foreign money to a Federal Reserve bank, and wait for the exchange. A fee is involved in most cases.

Here in Alberta, the Bank of Montreal outlet where I have an account will exchange Canadian and U. S. money directly (hence many merchants accept U. S. currency). Canadian banks will write U. S. and Australian dollar money orders, and sterling MO's. Euros are a problem here in Alberta- a wait is involved- but this may change. Transfers can be made in other major currencies but I don't know the procedure well enough to comment.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 02:27 PM

Well, there is a psychological difference, Ebbie, but you'd have to grow up in both countries to notice it, I think. I did. I spent half my childhood in Canada, half in the USA.

Young Americans are brought up with certain assumptions woven indelibly into the culture all around them, and it affects their viewpoint. Assumptions such as: "We are the country that invented democracy (and freedom)." "We are the greatest country in the world." "Life is better here than it is anywhere else." "We have a mission to lead the world to a better way." "Our money is the most important currency in the world." Etc...it's a very ethnocentric, self-absorbed point of view.

Those assumptions are radically different from the more modest assumptions of people in countries which are not superpowers. They are the kind of assumptions which can be very badly used by unscrupulous political leaders, and the USA is not the only country which has gone down that particular path. The Romans did. The British did. The French did. The Germans did. The Russians did.   The Japanese did.

All in their own time. Eventually their time passed...for some sooner than for others.

People in smaller countries observe that kind of hubris with nervousness and resentment, and sometimes they have good reason to be nervous.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Metchosin
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 03:41 PM

I agree with you there Ebbie, I could have just as easiily pointed to Shell but in this instance, the loudest published protest came from a US company.

A lot of Canadians and Americans believe that those international mega corps should be totally unfettered. Considering mega-business has more money and power than most small countries and relatively little or no moral responsibility as entities, despite massive amounts of budgeted PR to claim the contrary, they need to pay their fair share for their actions and utilizing a country's resources.

In this country that fair share, in the form of taxes, has been in constant decline since the early 1960's with the lower or middle income earners saddled with the fiscal responsibility for an ever increasing portion of the pie. The argument being that in order to be competive our taxation system should more closely parallel the US as far as business is concerned.

If you suggest even a small dip into mega-profits in order to sustain the society whithin which they operate, you are up for attack. One usual come back in this country is to suggest that if there is a problem with funding services for citizens, that should be handled by cutting back on those services.....but how dare you even suggest that our profits be touched, you Commie!

Somehow I always find myself trying to remember first principles:

"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful."    Hammurabi

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: gnu
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 03:52 PM

Bee: "I understand Maine is easier this way."

Yes. To this day. It the haydays of cross border shopping (by the bus load), our most prevalent adverts on late night TV here in New Brunswick were like those for Stacy's Motel and associated businesses in Bangoah that took Canadian money at pah... seeeyahh! Why, we could even buy stuff made here cheaper there.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: 3refs
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 04:12 PM

Ya! Like Molson Canadian and Crown Royal!

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Jeri
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 04:17 PM

Look at the realities. A dollar CA is not a dollar US is not a dollar Austrailian, is not a yen or a pound or any other form of currency. Just because it's called a 'dollar' doesn't mean it should be worth the same.

Let's just look at gasoline:

2.55 per gallon
.88 per liter

1 US gallon = 3.7854118 litres

10 gallons = 37.85 litres
Cost in USD: $33.31 | Cost in CAD: $25.50
Big difference. One think I find ironic is that the lowest price of gas in my area is at a Canadian-owned (chain) station.

In any case, this isn't 'parity' as the gas costs 7.81 more and a CD is $11.75 more. It's not the value of a CA dollar as compared to a US dollar that matters, it's what it can purchase.

I'm not buying many Canadian CDs. I bought a few from one artist who played here and was selling his for $15. On the other hand, Borealis CDs go for $20.00, plus shipping, which is $6.75, coming to $26.75 for a CD. I'd like to buy, but there's no way in hell I'm going to pay that much for a CD! I'll go visit, because I have friends in Canada, but I'll probably avoid buying much other than gas and food. (Dollar store stuff excepted because it's dollar store stuff.)

You may think this relatively drastic change is a good thing. What it means to me is that I minimize my time there and I don't spend any more than I have to. (Dollar store stuff doesn't count.)

Maybe this is all part of the process whereby the see-saw starts going back the other way, I don't know.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 06:08 PM

Of course all dollars aren't worth the same. "Dollar" is just an arbitrary word chosen to label some of the world's national currencies. They might just as well be called by any other name...such as pound, yen, mark, franc, lira, shekel, yuan, etc...

Well, as I said before, it's cyclical. The present cycle is very bad if you're selling TO the USA, it's very good if you're buying FROM the USA.

It has hurt Canada's tourism industry and manufacturing sector, both very badly. It has been of benefit to those who are buying American-made goods.

The odd thing is, the change in the comparative value of our 2 currencies on international exchanges has been driven by 2 main psychological factors:

1. Lack of confidence in the direction the US economy is going.
2. Confidence in the direction the Canadian economy is going.

Most peculiar. When the world has the most confidence in Canada's economy, Canada's manufacturing and tourism sectors receive a solid kick where it hurts the most....

Downright confusing, I tell you. ;-)

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 06:32 PM

actually 'dollar' is a Czech word. Comes from the silver (and later Uranium) mining town of Jachimov (Joachimsthal in German) Joachimsthalers - the towns coins - called thalers or tolars in Czech...

I definitely wouldnt want a Canadian dollar permanently tied to the US.
it would mean that we would be tied to US economic policy and give up our own.

ALso Im sure that Canadian importers must be benefitting, a couple of years ago when the Canadian dollar was low, one of my customers who already quite wealthy importing linens and stuff from China complained that whenever the Canadian dollar went down it hurt as all his suppliers required payment in US funds. (do they still?)

the US dollar devaluation is the way an empire taxes the rest of the world - thats why Cheney says 'Reagan proved deficits dont matter anymore'

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 07:19 PM

Yes, Canadian importers are definitely benefiting from the low US $.

As you say, US dollar devaluation is indeed how the US empire taxes the rest of the world. Everybody wants payment in US dollars. That's how the system is set up. So if the US dollar is worth comparatively less in real value, then the USA comes out ahead, because they are paying less in real value for the goods and services they are purchasing.

I'm getting at least 40% less in real value from the US dollar now than I was 2 or 3 years ago...and it shows on the yearly balance sheet in a very obvious way.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 07:35 PM

Silly statements on the news.
The Bayshore and Hyatt in Vancouver are complaining that the high Canadian Dollar is a cause of their declining guest list. All year 2-person rate at the Westin Bayshore is $480. People who can afford that don't worry about the rate. The Hyatt rates are more affordable, but still above what the frugal traveler would look for.

Let's say the cost of a $5.00 breakfast goes up 10%. Would the extra 50 cents stop you?

The post-9-11 hassles at the airport and the need for more documentation do much more to cause vacationeers to stay in their own backyards than reasonable fluctuations in currency.

(And perhaps unfriendlies in the stores, vacation sites and hotels?)

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: GUEST, Ebbie
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 07:40 PM

I'm not sure how to go about it but I want to research the mores and mindsets of pre-war (WWII) America. Did we change only when our status in the world changed? Power corrupts...etc. How would I go about it? Any suggestions?

Maybe start by rereading Upton Sinclair?

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 08:06 PM

Hmm. I don't know what to suggest as to who to read. The USA seems to have gone through a few different periods of alternating between aggressive expansionism and isolationism.

There was a great reluctance in the American public to enter either of the two World Wars, for example. The mood was isolationist. Woodrow Wilson eventually got the USA into WWI, assisted by angry public reaction to the sinking of the Lusitania by a German U-Boat. FDR eventually got the USA into WWII by I think quite deliberately provoking the Japanese into attacking the USA (by his trade restrictions on Japan). In either case a reluctant public had to be somehow maneuvered into supporting major foreign wars. Provocative incidents had to be either arranged....or waited for...as the case may be. (911 was another such provocative incident that had to be either arranged or waited for...not for me to say which, because I can't say I know for sure).

There were times when it was easier than that to get Americans to support a war. The Spanish-American War was a grand little adventure which had massive public support and was guaranteed not to fail. It resulted in America acquiring overseas naval bases in the Atlantic and Pacific...definitely a handy move for a nation bent on extending its imperial reach around the globe.

Another convenient little war on hapless Mexico secured the USA California and the Southwest, while Texas had already fallen into American hands after a brief period of independence.

The announcement of the Monroe Doctrine was indicative of a USA intent on dominating the entire western hemisphere (with the exception of Canada...at the time). It was announced as though it was being done as a favour for Latin Americans....an amusing notion!...it was really being done to establish the USA's sphere of influence in the world and to shut Europe out of that sphere.

So I'd say that the USA has swung back and forth between expansionist policy and isolationist policy during both the 19th and 20th centuries....but committed itself firmly to a "world" policy after 1945.

So, yes, the overall mood and psychology has changed dramatically since 1945. That's when the USA became the Superpower...and Britain had to face the end of its colonial dominance. By 1945 Brittania no longer ruled the waves...the USA did. The imperial crown had passed from London to Washington.

The Soviets attempted to dispute it, and their attempt failed after a horrendously expensive and risky 44 year campaign known as the Cold War.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 09:02 PM

Little Hawk-
Unfortunately for me, my Canadian purchases tend to be priced in Canadian dollars (and my UK ones in GBPounds or Euros.)And it's very difficult to get my customers to pay enough USDollars to make up for the dollar's decline.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 10:00 PM

I believe it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Justa Picker
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 10:09 PM

I'm thrilled about it. Total buyers market for a nice used, American made, higher end guitars - if you're a Canuck.
(Pulled the trigger today on a lovely, used Collings OM from a dealer in Tennessee. Wouldn't have done this a year or 2 ago.)

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 10:13 PM

Little Hawk pretty much provides an outline.

Immediately prior to WW2, much of the American economy was depressed- it really took the war to end the depression.

I was in school when Pearl Harbor was bombed. In the year or two before that happened, people were following the war in Europe and the pronouncements of the leaders, and saying - "They'll wave the flag a few more times, and we'll be in it." It was a period when people were waiting for the other shoe to drop. Industry already was growing exponentially and unemployment had dropped to a low, factories and farms supplying Britain and its allies as well as the American military.
The loss of the British and other colonial empires by the Europeans and the defeat of Japan in the Pacific, as well as the industrial buildup, helped the U. S. achieve dominance. The decline of Europe already had started with WW1, the surge by the Germans in the 1930s-1940s was the exception. The surge by the Soviets, as Little Hawk mentioned, provided the U. S. with a focus to continue building the military and industry.

Not isolationism, but a search for cheaper manufacturing, has cut the ability of the U. S. to dominate. Steel, glass and other heavy industry was moved to Brasil and other less-well-developed countries starting in the 1960s. The garment and other industries followed, leaving the U. S. in the position of controlling production but not doing the producing itself. Now that capital is being raised at an unheard-of rate in China, India, Dubai, Spain, etc., management and finance are being eroded as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 10:39 PM

Little Hawk, I think Ebbie got us off on another story.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 21 Sep 07 - 10:52 PM

Yup, looks like she did.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Ebbie
Date: 22 Sep 07 - 03:51 AM

Sorry

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 22 Sep 07 - 01:41 PM

No problemo, as Arnold would say...

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 07 - 10:33 AM

Overheard at a Dalhousie University (Halifxx NS, Canada) coffee shop last week.

Student 1
Did you hear the Canadian dollar has risen really highg.

Student 2

Yes, maybe we should buy some.

Student 3
But, we already have it?

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 23 Sep 07 - 02:42 PM

LOL! Omigod...

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: gnu
Date: 23 Sep 07 - 04:30 PM

And they say we from UNB are squirrely! Where are the real nuts?

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 06 Oct 07 - 10:00 PM

The Canadian dollar is now worth $1.02 American.

Yeah, you heard me. It's worth more than your American dollars now, pardners! Someone tell DougR. I know your tourists just are not going to believe it when they have to pay us the exchange on the dollar... ;-)

I can hardly believe it myself. It's sure playing hell with my export business. I must find a way to destroy the value of the Canadian dollar ASAP! Let's see...hmmm...

Maybe if I could find a way to make all the moose and beavers go on strike or something. That would do it.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Oct 07 - 10:03 PM

This means my toonie is worth...lessee...$2.00 CDN. I'm rich!

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Oct 07 - 01:50 AM

Yeah. ;-) You've got an extra four Lincoln pennies on that deal...or you would if the banks didn't steal at least 3 cents on the dollar from you every time they convert a foreign currency.

And that means that when I cash a US $ at my Canadian bank I will get about 95 cents Cdn for it, instead of the 98 cents Cdn it's really worth now.

Jesse James had the right idea when it came to bankers.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Ebbie
Date: 07 Oct 07 - 03:51 AM

Am I missing something here? The Canadian dollar has reached parity with the US dollar but we already know the sad shape the US dollar is in - more to the point what is the current value of the Canadian dollar in relation to the pound, the Euro, the yen...?

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 07 Oct 07 - 11:46 AM

I'm not sure if you're missing something or not, Ebbie...but here's the deal:

In 2002 a US dollar was worth $1.62 Canadian. It went down from that time on...slowly at first...then much more rapidly in the past year and a half. A US dollar is now worth 98 cents Canadian. Does that tell you something about the relative states of our respective currencies and economies? I haven't noticed my online purchases from the UK or Japan getting any more expensive in the past few years, in fact I think they have gotten a bit cheaper.

Of course, it's killing the Canadian export market, because we sell more to the USA than to the rest of the world...and what American customer is going to accept a 40% hike in the price of something he's been buying? These things with currency can be a bit misleading. People think it's great having a strong currency...well, it's not so great when you're selling to foreign customers.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: EBarnacle
Date: 08 Oct 07 - 01:07 AM

LH, During the War Between the States or the Late Unpleasantness or the Civil War [take your pick] the Union started running out of hard currency and began issuing paper money, aka shinplasters. This devalued the US dollar. When the war was over, the value of the dollar recovered.

This does not explain the stupidity of our current regime in creating an atmosphere which weakened the dollar. The floating value of the dollar is actually a worldwide vote on the world's relationship with the US rather than an intrinsic measure.

Have you wondered why Petroleum products have not risen even more than they have? The are pumped and paid for in US dollars/barrel.

Subject: RE: BS: Cd $ reaches parity with US $
From: Little Hawk
Date: 08 Oct 07 - 03:46 AM

Uh-huh. War is by far the most expensive and wasteful activity that humans engage in, but it's exciting to observe vicariously (specially if you approve of it) and it's very profitable for certain people in business and politics. The main challenge with a war, other than coping with pouring a country's human and material assets into a bottomless pit, is selling it to the public at home. This is crucial to maintaining an effective war effort. Fear is a good motivator, so that's the angle that usually works best.

Remember what a dire threat Manuel Noriega was to the world when he (eventually) stopped following CIA orders? OOOO-weee! Scary!

Remember what a dire threat Saddam was? Oh dear! Gotta protect ourselves from the terrible WMDs!

Note what a dire threat Ahmadinejad is being portrayed as now. He is the new official "Bad Guy" of the news media. There always has to be one if you want a war. They have to have a recognizable face for people to be afraid of. Once he is gone, they'll find another.