If the economy is so "great" then how come is the dollar at an all time low to the Canadian Dollar?

Question

And YES, Bush, DOES have something to do with this, because it is HIS policies that he keeps pushing, and Congress keeps turning over for him.

libstick... It also means that Americans can't buy as much, which means we are POORER.

Wages have not kept up with health insurance increases and health insurance is getting to the point that only the very rich can afford health care. No, I am not talking about socialization, I am talking about putting a cap on how much that they can increase and deporting all illegal aliens.

If I seem that I am all over the place about commenting on the economy, it is because the economy is all over the place and it affects every single one of us and at risk for having the US collapse and we will be the end result.

The unemployment is being twisted. I would REALLY like to see what the numbers REALLY are with the same methods that they used in the 1950s. It is well known that they are only using the numbers who are GETTING unemployment insurance currently...not those who are actually looking for work. Which means the unemployment rate tells nothing of what the TRUE unemployment rate really is.

I LOVE it! People keep going on about the "Products we sell", but in REALITY the US doesn't really sell anything of substance. And what is even MORE disgusting is the fact that most of the factory employment is in fact ILLEGAL ALIENS where the employer can skew the numbers and pay less than minimum wage. Every time that there is a rape there are AMERICAN WORKERS who want the jobs. People need to wake up before it is too late. Not trying to be gloom and doom, but we need to say NO MORE to the jerks in DC and do what the Constitution SAYS to do when they stop working for the US citizen!

Answer 1

Royphil is correct and libstick hasn't got a clue. For all you folks that have been talking about a weaker dollar meaning we'll export more, answer this questions for me -- in 2001 the US Dollar Index was at 120, today its' around 76.60, which means the dollar has lost over 36% of it's value against the major world currencies in the past 6 years; why then are we still running record trade deficits? According to your reason, are trade deficits should be shrinking over the past 6 years. And if you think we're running trade deficits with just China, guess again. We are running trade deficits with over 100 nations. Do you realize we even have a trade deficit with the French outpost in Antarctica? What the heck are we getting from there that we'd be running a deficit - penguins?

And libstick, if a product is produced in the U.S. and sells for dollars, off course there isn't going to be a price increase. But if coke were produced in say Germany and imported to the U.S., you would see a price rise. I'll speak slowly so you can understand - it's called exchange rates.

Oh and one more thing libstick, do you realize that the country that we get most of our crude oil from is not Saudi Arabia, not Iraq, but guess where ----- CANADA. Why do you think crude is now trading at over $90 a barrel. Before you go spouting off what you "think" you know, actually go do the research first.

Royphil is correct. We are printing so much money that it gives the SEMBLANCE of prosperity. The housing market is falling apart, energy prices are rising, banks and hedge funds are posting losses in the billions, but all of that is masked by an economy that is flush with liquidity. You can have a business that has the worst product, worst management team, worst business plan and yet if you throw enough money at it, it will look prosperous. Remember the "dot.com" boom? There were companies that had not revenues, some didn't even have a product, but just because it had a ".com" in it's name, the idiot investors lost their freaking minds and threw money at them like it was going out of style. And what happened after that? Many of those companies no longer exists and 7 years after the tech bubble popped, the NASDAQ is still almost 50% below it's all time high.

Now, you can't blame just Bush. This has been going on for YEARS under several administrations.

Oh, and for you folks that keep quoting gov't statistics, get a life, do you really think the gov't is giving us "true" data? I live and work in the DC area and know several individuals that work for the gov't in jobs that require data collection for gov't statistics and all of them have told me that the gov't "massages" the numbers to make them look better. That if they submit data that isn't good, their superiors get upset and have them "retally" the data to make it look better. Don't believe me? All you have to do is look at New Home Sales data. Anyone with 1/2 a brain cell would compute new home sales based on number of houses that went to closing. How does the gov't report it? They base it on the number of signed contracts. Just because a contract has been signed doesn't mean squat. People can back out of contracts. And considering the home builders have been experiencing record cancellation rates (some as high as 50%), that means a lot of those contracts aren't going to closing. And if a contract is cancelled, the gov't DOES NOT deduct that "sale" from the data and DOES NOT add the house back into available inventory. Another farce, the Core CPI - doesn't include energy and food. Okay, unless someone is a hermit and grows their own food and heats their cave with a fire, I don't know anyone that doesn't use fuel or food. So, when people start quoting mild Core CPI, they're lying to you or are complete morons.

Fedup, I'm not directing these comments to you, just to the people who don't think for themselves and follows the "official numbers" blindly.

Bottom line is that the economy looks like it's doing well because the Fed is pumping the money supply like it's candy. When you flood that much money into the system, it has to go somewhere - hence the record breaking M&A deals that have closed, a stock market that keeps going up, etc. The U.S. is facing a day of financial reckoning that going to make the Great Depression look like a picnic in comparison. And most Americans are absolutely clueless.

Answer 2

Enjoy the ride because it won't last, hoser. The Loonie is riding the price of oil, since Canada is an oil exporter, and sooner or later that will top out and fall. It may well already be in a bubble. Additionally there are textbook responses to changes in the terms of trade that tend to place currencies back into equilibrium. At some point the US dollar gets so low and American products are such a great deal that exports mushroom. US exports cause a demand for US dollars to buy them, so the supply/demand relative to other currencies balances out. That process is well underway ... dollar is still falling today but exports are growing strong and you Canadians are going nuts coming south across the border to buy cars and other stuff. And our cities are being flooded by Eurotrash tourists, to the same effect.

Answer 3

Bush seems to be trying to repeat history, which does happen, by doing what Reagan did. Reagan spent a ton, but was not involved in a war. Why is Bush handing the nod to the democrats? He needs to start on the fence as the Latino Americans will vote their minds, not in a demo block and the ones that vote republican are also livid about the ones coing here and breaking the law. The crime is hitting there areas the most.

When Ross ran and sucked 20 million votes from Bush 1, I wondered why. They said he took the WW 2 vets. NAFTA is built on his land and his son runs it.

Possible answer is if we bring the dollar down to the peso it will be easier to open the superhiway between the countries. I think I want an actor in the White House, I know where they stand.

Another thing that puzzles me is our great brother country Saudi Arabia was going to give all the oil needed, but now the price is almost $100. When the Asian markert crashed and oil dropped to $10, that saved Clinton's butt so there is probably something there dealing with him, but during a crash there is a slow down, but not so to the ones making a killing oof oil. Yes most corporations here have moved our industry to China so they can pollute the world, but all this stuff about them using so much more and other media scare tactics are hog wash.

I have felt that robots run the country as they are not understanding what is going on. The euro is anohter example, Germany was the strongest, but the French franc is worth about as much as the peso, then the other countries are not much better so the EURO is a joke and smoke and mirros, that's my take. Scope it out. Oh I forgot about Monaco as its 100,000 people. Oick it apart. Take care.

Answer 4

Fedup,
Although I agree that the problem exists, I see the problem differently.

The reason the jobs are shipped overseas or that the illegal aliens get jobs here is because of wage differentials. Due to the 'protective' nature of labor unions, if companies do hire union workers, they have to pay top dollar. This is not sustainable and not competitive in a global economy, and will not work in a free-market economy.

I am not blaming the labor unions, but they are not going to solve the problem, since they are part of the problem. So is illegal aliens, and so is globalism, and so is protectionism, and so is deficit spending and Keneysian economic policy.

This is a very complex jigsaw puzzle that will not solve itself by just trying to solve one part of if. You have to look at the overall big picture. We have to solve all parts with a principled approach instead of trying to solve it with convenient or expedient means.

But first step is to realize that there is a problem.

By the way, to address your question, the US economy is definitely NOT doing great, and the official numbers are the result of cooking the books - it's so overcooked, it's charred. All these GDP growth numbers left out a lot of things. I feel sorry for the people who actually believe these numbers, but then again, they have been brainwashed by the media. If the government reported the real numbers accurately, they will be closer to the comptroller general David Walker's numbers.
http://www.gao.gov/cghome/d08241cg.pdf

Answer 5

My God!!! Are some of these people for real???

A weak dollar won't make anyone buy more American goods until we're a 3rd world craphole like the places they'll continue to buy the goods from until we are!!!

Inflation will kick in right about now. I've already noticed prices rising faster than usual. I think that's just the beginning. It takes the market awhile to adjust to a crashing currency. Whoever said the Fed had no business lowering rates at this time is right on the money!!! This will make the inflation worse. It really looks like they're trying to finish us on purpose.

No... Canada's economy isn't booming all of the sudden. The dollar has crashed compared to every other currency and gold!!!

No... The weak dollar isn't caused by the stock market!!! The Fed's been printing and printing worthless dollars for years and years to prop up the markets until it is now worthless!!!

Americans have overspent on what??? A house, a car and some crap with both parents working??? We used to be able to do that on one income!!!! Why won't you people admit we've been robbed???!!! Do you really think you're part of the "elite" who've completelty drained the wealth of the American middle class? The dollar is crashing, the inflation is just starting, they've finally admitted wages are falling and you're screwed now too!!! Not just the poor already locked up in our WORLDS LARGEST prison population. They're obviously crashing the dollar, flooding the country with illegal immigrants to finish us off and killing The Constitution so they can "save" us with a new form of government just like they did in Europe!!! The USA has been robbed blind and taken over by outside interests... and people are still spewing this ridiculous propaganda that was used against us to do it with!!! When will you people open your eyes and see???!!!

This Lib / Con garbage is just that. They all betray the USA and serve the "globalists". The plan has moved along and never changes no matter who is in office!!!

Outsourcing is the fault of American workers??? Free trade is one thing... Replacing American workers with foreign slaves is NOT free trade. It's TREASON and it always was!!! You can trade between economies. They haved treasonously MERGED our economy with 3rd world economies and that's why we're heading rapidly in that direction. By design!!!

Without this treason... These other countries wouldn't even have the technology to compete with us on hi-tech goods and other nations would be forced to pay the higher prices and buy American!!! That's how we used to stay ahead... BY STAYING AHEAD!!!

And yes Fedup... Their unemployment stats are a joke. Why is it so good when more people in a family MUST work to get by? And what about the WORLDS LARGEST prison population? Since all the unemployed are now called prisoners instead... it's not a problem I guess?...

Those ridiculous stats and a stock market that hasn't crashed only because it's been propped up at the cost of the nation are all they have left to try and prove the economy's good. They don't even realize that some of us have seen the better times and they look like morons to us....

Answer 6

You're wasting your time. I asked this question already and I got some spin about how it's great that the dollar is weak because then we increase our exports. We will be just like Japan. What is it again that we have in exports that is so great? The only thing happening as a result is Canadiens coming across the border to shop at Marshalls.

I can only imagine what some of these people would be saying about a weak dollar if Clinton was in charge...

Also, it isn't just the Canadien dollar. The US dollar is getting weaker compared to almost all other currencies with which we have an established exchange. This isn't just Canada getting stronger.

Answer 7

I have a theory about this actually. I think when we lost about 2 million people to Canada in 2000 when Bush won the election they went to work. That coupled with Canada's much more relaxed immigration policy has allowed a lot of Hong Kong businessmen to invest in Canadian cities. If you haven't been up there for a while go look now. I went back after not having been there in 4 years and it looks completely different in at least 2 major cities. There is a lot more money in Canada now than there used to be.

Answer 8

How well the U.S. economy is doing (with respect to the value of the dollar) depends on who you talk to. You have to remember that we have a pro-business administration. A "weak" dollar helps big business because they can sell their goods at a cheaper price abroad. It spurs tourism because now foreigners can come here with more value to their currency. It does nothing for us if we want to go abroad. Our big business companies are making a killing because they can produce products abroad and sell them abroad at a huge profit. Curiously there are some countries where the dollar has not lost ground because these countries have heavy investments in the U.S. This means that if the exchange rate of the dollar goes down, their investments will suffer. To keep their investments afloat they keep the exchange rate stable. The bottom line is that we are the planet's cash cow. The ones that pay for this is the American public. Don't you feel better now that you are doing your part for the country?

Answer 9

Stop Blaming the president for our own poor choices.

The exchange rate is controlled by the acts of the Federal Reserve NOT the President. The Fed sets monetary policy for this country and is not part of the government, thus any action by congress or the President pails in comparison to that of the Fed.

Fact: The US dollar is low across the board do to uncertainty on Wall Street, near record low interest rates and over spending by American consumers.

The largest factor in this equation is the American people who have made poor financial choices resulting in large personal debt.... Record forclosures, massive credit card debt, and high interest, poor termed auto loans/ leases, threaten to crash our banking system.

Answer 10

Because of the great American Economy, more Americans have MORE money than ever before and were buying up tons of goods from other nations. This of course sent many dollars overseas and led to the current devalueation.

Dont fret much, a lower dollar now means American goods are now cheaper for overseas nations to buy with all their U.S dollars.

Isnt capitalism and the free market grand?