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Old 02-29-2008, 08:51 AM
 
Location: Luxembourg Europe
19 posts, read 65,567 times
Reputation: 17

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I hope these comments are of interest to some people on this forum.

I live in Luxembourg Europe and have family who live in Florida. I travel once a year to see them and of course I am very interested in the life and economics of Florida and the USA.
I normally visit Florida in April or May and before my visit I exchange Euro's for US Dollars at my bank.
Last week I changed some Euro's for dollars and €1000 bought $1468. In Early April 2007, 1000€ bought $1360. That is 8% more € to the $. However if I had waited to buy my dollars today my €1000 would have bought $1520 nearly 12% more than last year. I don't have the figure in front of me but checking FXHistory - Historical Currency Exchange Rates
this time in 2006 €1000 bought $1118. which means the Euro buys nearly 36% more dollars in just two years.
I would like to make some observations about this continuing drop in the value of the $ if I may and would welcome other peoples opinions.
Some of the the positives:-
This makes USA more attractive to visitors to come on vacation.
Property that is dropping in dollar terms is even lower in price in Euro's
American exports are more competitive in price in Europe.
Some of the negatives:-
More expensive for Americans to visit Europe.
Are cheaper houses going to lead to a foreclosure blight on some neighbourhoods.
Imports to the USA will be more expensive.
Some Europeans worried about viability of USA banks.
“Mr Bernanke predicted that some smaller US banks were likely to collapse. “I expect there will be some failures,” he told the committee.” a quote from the London Times yesterday.
Ben Bernanke triggers dollar’s fall to new low - Times Online

Any thoughts?
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Old 02-29-2008, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Viña del Mar, Chile
16,393 posts, read 30,852,352 times
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The thing about a non-backed currency is that the prices are always fluctuating. What you are saying is true, it does make travel easier on people from other countries. The reason for this is because of inflation though, the Euro is new, but give it a matter of time and the Euro will become weaker and weaker. It is not an exaggeration that some years down the road people may be walking with a million dollars in their wallet. If you are interested in economics and this kind of stuff, I'd recommend looking up on Marc Faber, commodities will make you money, not currency.
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Old 02-29-2008, 09:49 AM
 
Location: Heartland Florida
9,324 posts, read 26,684,824 times
Reputation: 5038
The lower the dollar goes the worse it is for working Americans. Thank the Federal Reserve for further debasement of our currency.
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Old 02-29-2008, 10:22 PM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,486,210 times
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I was working a construction job in Europe about 7 years ago and it only cost around 84 cents to buy a Euro and now it cost about $1.52 to buy that same Euro.

Last August I was surprised to find very few Americans in Austria in places that were packed with them 7 years ago. Many of the tourist businesses confirmed that the number of Americans visiting is dropping each year.

On the other side, the same Austrians are reluctant to vacation in the States due in part to the stricter Visa Requirements. Several of my colleagues flat out told me they would not visit because of this.

Very interesting times we live in...
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Old 03-01-2008, 06:40 AM
 
1 posts, read 4,025 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ultrarunner View Post
I was working a construction job in Europe about 7 years ago and it only cost around 84 cents to buy a Euro and now it cost about $1.52 to buy that same Euro.
7 years ago the euro was a new currency... baby-fresh. It was not sure if this new currency would find the worldwide acceptance like other old mature currencies. Time has past...
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Old 03-01-2008, 06:00 PM
 
Location: North Adams, MA
746 posts, read 3,493,530 times
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Seems to me that if the dollar is losing value, and oil is traded in US dollars, no wonder the price has been inflating. Or am I comparing apples and oranges?

Wonder how long until WalMart seems as expensive as Neiman Marcus to those of us who live in the USA. (That's a little joke, folks.)
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Old 03-01-2008, 06:29 PM
 
Location: Vero Beach, Fl
2,976 posts, read 13,349,665 times
Reputation: 2265
It is sobering and nerve wracking to watch the market rise and fall over the utterances of a select few. There are certain officials that would do well to think twice before opening their mouths.

There are wonderful opportunities for Europeans traveling to the US given the strong euro and our weak dollar. Enjoy.

I worry about the direction this country has taken and we are so deep I don't know when we will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
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Old 03-01-2008, 06:38 PM
 
Location: Living in Paradise
5,701 posts, read 24,117,483 times
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The lower the value of our dollar the less that we can purchase and yes, many from overseas will look to purchase US good at a better price.

This can be a positive for the housing market as more individuals abroad will leave the Euro in the USA...
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Old 03-02-2008, 03:16 AM
 
5,760 posts, read 11,512,691 times
Reputation: 4949
Quote:
Originally Posted by gfplux View Post
I hope these comments are of interest to some people on this forum.

. . . . .

Any thoughts?
Sure. Sounds like you hit all the high points of the surface and the symptoms gfplux.

First, glad you enjoy Florida. Has a character all its own, such as Texas, California, Louisiana, and many other states. If you like one, I would suggest you try some more -- like additional items on a very wide menu.

Back towards your observations regarding the US currency -- to me it seems all the likely outcome of our abuse of the special trust placed on US by the world community at the end of WW2 where the US dollar became the de facto world currency. Since then, our top end decided to print (and print and print) the stuff beyond any hope or capacity to ever back its fake believe value to cover any inane actiivity they schemed up. The Iraqicide now, the insane weapons build-up of the Reagan era, Vietnam in an earlier era. Just turn on the presses and print IOUs / debt (US dollars) they have no intent of ever honoring at the stated value.

At the bottom end, "We the people" have little control of the lunatic politicians and poliicy makers that our corporations now foist upon US. Most of the US people are also against the international trade agreements that have further debased the dollar, but pretty much the motto of the US could be Thy Corporate Will Be Done.

Fortunately all things have limits. When they have parasitically sucked US dry, they may lose interest in US. Then we could be left free(r) albeit it much poorer. But probalbly all the better than now. Since it appears you are now on the rise, I would encourage you to manage and contain your top end and their greed better than we have managed ours.
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Old 03-04-2008, 12:33 AM
 
28,107 posts, read 63,486,210 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Philip T View Post
Just turn on the presses and print IOUs / debt (US dollars) they have no intent of ever honoring at the stated value.
Sounds like a good argument to leverage commodities and even Real Estate... paying debt incurred today with tomorrow's cheaper Dollars...
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