NationStates Jolt Archive

Damn Bush. He's eating up the economy.

In before this thread turns into a massive wank fest. I say this will descend into a pissing contest when the Europeans get here and flaunt the Euro.

Now that the Canadian dollar is higher than the American dollar for the first time in a century or something like that, this thread is for Canadians to get back at Americans for making fun of us in movies like Canadian bacon or ridiculing our beloved "eh"s or etc, before our dollar looses value again.

Or some people may wanna discuss about why Canadian prices are still higher than US. It made sense when our dollar was lower but now? What the hell? I'm considering of buying a computer and it's considerably more expansive here. And buying it from US isnt an option either, since shipping cost is a bitch and I'll still have to pay 14% HST (which is a lot when you buy a computer) AND duties if the products werent made in a NAFTA country. And a lot stuff these days are made in Asia. So all I can do, as you can see, is ranting.

And when will US dollar rise again? I heard in the news that China was gonna sell some of its dollars which is huge. Will USD stop being the "global currency" soon?

Visiual rep. of the theme of this thread:

http://www.pokeraddict.net.au/userimages/user3148_1168313835.jpg

http://controllercode.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/pwned.jpg

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8056/800pxusdollar100frontxd7.jpg

(Notice the annoyed shape of Benjy's mouth)

PS: 1.00 CAD = 1.03978 USD (Latest exchange)

Haha, canada actually has guys playing hokey on their currency.

(Notice the annoyed shape of Benjy's mouth):p

Sorry, can't contribute anything meaningful to the thread, but that made me laugh. Also, the high prices aspect is interesting. And sucky, I'd guess.

Yeah? Well, why don't you just go on aboot yer business you silly Canuck?

Well this is what happens when you send most of our factories and other jobs overseas to China and India. No wonder the dollar is falling.

Damn Bush. He's eating up the economy.

At least he isnt a fucking thread stealer. :mp5:

Haha, canada actually has guys playing hokey on their currency.

Ya we have some action happening on our money unlike that boring yankkey money.

I hate how our US dollars are getting all...colorful. Pictures on money is just dumb...unless its a president, a queen/king, or an animal.

Bah. Fuck colorful money. That's why its the dollar is gong down: too many colors. Go back to green and black money! To hell with colors!

Haha, canada actually has guys playing hokey on their currency.

I saw that too, that really dose look woefully lame. (no offense Canada)

I hate how our US dollars are getting all...colorful. Pictures on money is just dumb...unless its a president, a queen/king, or an animal.

Bah. Fuck colorful money. That's why its the dollar is gong down: too many colors. Go back to green and black money! To hell with colors!

New US dollar:

http://www.thegully.com/essays/gay_mundo2/wilke/img_closet/OneHundredDollarBill2.jpg

In before this thread turns into a massive wank fest. I say this will descend into a pissing contest when the Europeans get here and flaunt the Euro.

Well, now that you mention it...
1.00 EUR = 1.45432 USD
Need i say more?

BTW, i love Canada!

I saw that too, that really dose look woefully lame. (no offense Canada)

Maybe you'll prefer CAD 20, w/ the Queen:

http://www.allcanada.com/html/images/Canadian20.jpg

Well, now that you mention it...
1.00 EUR = 1.45432 USD
Need i say more?

BTW, i love Canada!

I knew it would come up. It was inevitable. Now we just need the British pound and we're all set...

PS: 1.00 CAD = 1.03978 USD (Latest exchange)

This has two benefits to me.

1) Canadians are buying more American goods and services. I went to Sault Sainte Marie the other day and the Walmart on the Michigan side was packed with cars with Ontario plates. The Walmart in Canada was empty.

1) Places are allowing me to spend Canadian bills here in Michigan again. I've always been allowed to use coins, but I always have some bills left over after my trips and don't want to trade them in to get screwed again by the exchange fees.

Meh. This is what happens when you grow the national debt, send a critical part of your workforce overseas, have political and social disillusionment, a major banking crisis, rising interest rates, and an administration that won't work to grow our economy by funding real and substantive research in big fields (see: green technology, genetic engineering, etc.)

What's the Dollar anyway?

I thought the last people used that currency decades ago, no? In 1812 or something?

Smart people use their Euros.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7086418.stm

The pound is at a 26 year high against the dollar :)

This is actually pretty good for the US, people and companies from other countries will start coming over and buying stuff and making stuff here.

Does this mean I can't make jokes about Canadian money now?

This is actually pretty good for the US, people and companies from other countries will start coming over and buying stuff and making stuff here.

Until the oil countries decide to use another currency.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7086418.stm

The pound is at a 26 year high against the dollar :)

As always, my main motivation for posting in these threads is to thank the Americans for their weak dollar. Excuse me while I go and buy cheap consumer goods!

Now that the Canadian dollar is higher than the American dollar for the first time in a century or something like that, this thread is for Canadians to get back at Americans for making fun of us in movies like Canadian bacon or ridiculing our beloved "eh"s or etc, before our dollar looses value again.

PS: 1.00 CAD = 1.03978 USD (Latest exchange)

So how come when I buy books they still cost a dollar more in Canadian money?

This is actually pretty good for the US, people and companies from other countries will start coming over and buying stuff and making stuff here.

But it also means that stuff we buy from overseas costs more. And that our national debt is growing even faster than it appears. Even more than if our government wasn't borrowing to cover up the massive Bush deficit.

Currency strength does not reflect economic strength. It reflects the demand for a currency relative to the supply, with additional adjustments for expected inflation.

The US economy is considerably stronger overall than the Eurozone, the UK, and Canada's, but due to the fact that the US has been running such large current account deficits with the rest of the world, especially with China due to their continued undervaluation of their currency, the supply of dollars has expanded faster than the demand for dollars. In addition, inflation is generally higher in the US than in Europe, the UK, or Canada, so the currency will depreciate further to price inflation expectations in to the exchange rate. As we all know from economics, if supply expands and demand does not expand equally or remains constant, the price must fall to stimulate demand for the additional currency and return the market to equilibrium.

In fact, a trade deficit can be a sign of a stronger economy, due to the fact that faster economic growth, lower savings rates, and rising incomes will increase demand for goods and services above the ability of the domestic economy to supply them. This is one reason why the deficit increased so rapidly during the 1990's; the economy of the US was stronger than most of the world (especially emerging markets), with the result being that the deficit widened thanks to the inflow of cheaper goods from overseas. In addition, a weaker currency is a good thing for the US, since it makes our exports more competitive overseas and has led to one of the strongest export booms in recent history, with positive effects on the manufacturing and transportation sectors in particular; when it comes to calculating GDP and the economic conditions of American citizens, it doesn't matter whether a good is sold at home or overseas. They both factor in equally.

Currency strength does not reflect economic strength. It reflects the demand for a currency relative to the supply, with additional adjustments for expected inflation.

The US economy is considerably stronger overall than the Eurozone, the UK, and Canada's, but due to the fact that the US has been running such large current account deficits with the rest of the world, especially with China due to their continued undervaluation of their currency, the supply of dollars has expanded faster than the demand for dollars. In addition, inflation is generally higher in the US than in Europe, the UK, or Canada, so the currency will depreciate further to price inflation expectations in to the exchange rate. As we all know from economics, if supply expands and demand does not expand equally or remains constant, the price must fall to stimulate demand for the additional currency and return the market to equilibrium.

In fact, a trade deficit can be a sign of a stronger economy, due to the fact that faster economic growth, lower savings rates, and rising incomes will increase demand for goods and services above the ability of the domestic economy to supply them. This is one reason why the deficit increased so rapidly during the 1990's; the economy of the US was stronger than most of the world (especially emerging markets), with the result being that the deficit widened thanks to the inflow of cheaper goods from overseas. In addition, a weaker currency is a good thing for the US, since it makes our exports more competitive overseas and has led to one of the strongest export booms in recent history, with positive effects on the manufacturing and transportation sectors in particular; when it comes to calculating GDP and the economic conditions of American citizens, it doesn't matter whether a good is sold at home or overseas. They both factor in equally.

Umm, laymen terms please?

Umm, laymen terms please?
The US Dollar is a commodity, like widgets. If nobody wants to buy them but there's a lot around, the relative price tends to fall.

One reason there's a lot of them around is because the US runs such a big trade deficit. That means that they are essentially borrowing to buy imports today, so other countries get lots of dollars. But because the US isn't exporting as much, other countries don't give their currencies away in return. So relatively speaking, in the international setting there are more US dollars around...you can observe that particularly by looking at the foreign exchange reserves of the Asian countries, basically China and the Bank of Japan are buying up US Dollars wherever they can find them and are making up a lot of demand*.

At the same time there are more dollars around because of inflation as well. Put it down to Greenspan's antics or whatever you like, but on the whole the US has had slightly higher rates of inflation, meaning more dollars floating around. At home that doesn't matter so much because the prices are of course rising too - but foreign prices aren't. So again, the relative price of the US Dollar falls.

That general falling trend also means that if I have an investment in the States, I have to consider not just the positive interest I will earn, but also the fact that when I pull out, the Dollars will be worth less in my domestic currency than they were at the beginning. So the demand for US assets (eg financial investments of all sorts and perhaps even some FDI), everything else having stayed the same, should also fall, which means even fewer people are demanding dollars to buy those assets.

And to put a final "nail in the coffin", the Euro has become a popular currency in international trade. It's stable, there's enough of them around and it's accepted worldwide. If I'm an Israeli firm and I want to buy a Swiss clock, I can either wait for someone to want to buy Shekels and sells Francs in return - or (much easier) I change my Shekels into a reserve currency that everyone uses and then change that into Francs. That used to be pretty much exclusively the US Dollar, but today I can do it in Euros too. Some proportion of traders are doing it, so the demand is still weaker.

So there's your reason. It doesn't necessarily reflect badly on the US though. Trade deficits in developed countries are today mainly seen as "intertemporal optimisation", meaning people maximise their happiness through borrowing and saving through time. Countries save when they run a surplus and they borrow when they run a deficit. The only thing worth looking at is whether or not the debt burden is such that future economic growth can't be expected to pay for it so there's a risk of default. In the case of the US, that obviously won't happen, because growth is strong and investments in machinery and so on tend to pay of quite well. Eventually the US may (!) have to return to a surplus, which could be painful. But perhaps just as likely will be that the potential to return to a surplus will be enough to guarantee some stable deficit for all eternity.

*And as a final thing, people often talk about China floating the Renminbi to make it comparative value to the Dollar fair and not disadvantage the US in trade terms as much. What they don't often think about is what China would be doing with the trillions in reserves it needs right now to make sure the peg stays stable. Most likely, they'd start buying stuff with them - so no more big demand but a big chunk of extra supply. If you think the Dollar is low today, you might wanna look away when that happens. On the other hand, oil prices are denominated in US Dollars so my Aussie Dollars will buy me more petrol. So by all means, go ahead. :p

http://www.economist.com/images/20070811/D3207WW0.jpg
http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=8717275&story_id=9622531

That's it, all my savings are going to be converted to Canadian money. Can someone tell me some good banks up there?

Well this is what happens when you send most of our factories and other jobs overseas to China and India. No wonder the dollar is falling.
Don't forget our "Subprime Morgage scam" or the ****ing huge war that is draining our budget to the trillions.

Meh. This is what happens when you grow the national debt, send a critical part of your workforce overseas, have political and social disillusionment, a major banking crisis, rising interest rates, and an administration that won't work to grow our economy by funding real and substantive research in big fields (see: green technology, genetic engineering, etc.)
You mention a bunch of things which basically have nothing to do with this, and one thing (rising interest rates) that actually works in the opposite direction.

That's it, all my savings are going to be converted to Canadian money. Can someone tell me some good banks up there?
Just go for gold. People seem to love it and it's probably safer than Canadian dollars.

If there were a real rollercoaster with the US Dollar, the other major currencies would also start going a little bit haywire, while gold should actually go up in such a case, considering that it's generally considered a fairly safe sort of bet. And if you really wanted to, you could get a few put options too to hedge against the risk.

That's not an investment tip, by the way, just an observation. I trust you won't go out there now without speaking to someone who actually knows what he's talking about and sue me afterwards. ;)

well aboute that thing aboute the Icelandic Króna (The Icelandic Currency) (ISK). 1 USD (United states dollar) is 70 ISK

Well thanks bush, thanks for fucking up our currency. THis is why I'm officially joining the republican party and voting for Ron Paul. He knew this kind of thing would happen.

Bah. Fuck colorful money. That's why its the dollar is gong down: too many colors. Go back to green and black money! To hell with colors!

Our dollar's doing better than it has in ages, and ours is different colours AND sizes.

Now that the Canadian dollar is higher than the American dollar for the first time in a century or something like that, this thread is for Canadians to get back at Americans for making fun of us in movies like Canadian bacon or ridiculing our beloved "eh"s or etc, before our dollar looses value again.

Or some people may wanna discuss about why Canadian prices are still higher than US. It made sense when our dollar was lower but now? What the hell? I'm considering of buying a computer and it's considerably more expansive here. And buying it from US isnt an option either, since shipping cost is a bitch and I'll still have to pay 14% HST (which is a lot when you buy a computer) AND duties if the products werent made in a NAFTA country. And a lot stuff these days are made in Asia. So all I can do, as you can see, is ranting.

And when will US dollar rise again? I heard in the news that China was gonna sell some of its dollars which is huge. Will USD stop being the "global currency" soon?

Visiual rep. of the theme of this thread:

http://www.pokeraddict.net.au/userimages/user3148_1168313835.jpg

http://controllercode.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/10/pwned.jpg

http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/8056/800pxusdollar100frontxd7.jpg

(Notice the annoyed shape of Benjy's mouth)

PS: 1.00 CAD = 1.03978 USD (Latest exchange)

Well you still are just a cheap immitation culture that draws everything it has from the U.S. Just kidding. But you guys should get somesort of gimic besides just being north of the U.S. I mean Mexico has the whole poor thing and corruption of a latin American state. Plus they have something of a catch phrase: "Don't drink the water!" It makes into a haunted house like atmosphere but the catch is its actually what people live through! In America its "Don't eat the fast food!" plus being fat overweight simpletons who have the lowest literacy rate of the western world. Canada should get something like "Don't call us French cause we're not all French!" or even better "Don't mess with our hockey team, they're just too damn good!"

Well this is what happens when you send most of our factories and other jobs overseas to China and India. No wonder the dollar is falling.Where do you think we outsource to?

Personally I think we should set the two currencies 1:1. It's not that big of a deal. It just means we get lots of money from you shlumps who come because stuff is cheaper here.

Why not just come here and buy it? Unless you live far from the border...you could make it a vacation...

Personally I think we should set the two currencies 1:1. It's not that big of a deal.
Actually, it sort of is.

If you want to keep the currencies at an equal value, that means that one must always be able to exchange on CAD with one USD. The only places that can guarantee this are the two central banks because they're ultimately sitting at the source.

But that means that the central banks now have to manipulate the total amount of money floating around to make sure demand and supply for USD and CAD clear at the 1:1 exchange rate. So they can't do it anymore to make sure the economy is going smoothly.

Interest rates are changed by changing the amount of money entering the economy. So if this flow now has to be directed at exchange rate stability, it can't be used to manipulate interest rates anymore. Basically the interest rate would no longer be set by the Fed, but by the currency flows between Canada and the US (and it would turn out, the two interest rates would always have to be roughly equal).

So you're giving up your ability to use monetary policy to speed up or slow down the economy and combat inflation and unemployment. In return, you get easier trade between Canada and the US.

The EU went down that road and the Euro stood at the end of it. But many countries paid a heavy price in the process: if interest rates are set in Brussels, then different conditions in Ireland and Germany cannot independently be taken into account. So interest rates end up way too high for Germany, but way too low for Ireland. On average they're fine, but the individual economies suffer for as long as it takes for them to truly become one where the conditions are roughly the same everywhere.

I suppose you could get out the econometrics kit now and try to figure out how close Canada and the US are economically, but I would suggest they probably aren't as close as the main EU countries. The costs of losing monetary policy would dwarf the gains of winning exchange rate stability and easier cross-border trade.

In the end, it would be far easier to adopt a common currency than to try to keep exchange rates fixed at a given level.

Maybe it's the shrubs master plan.

Destroy the value of the Dollar. Put the economy into recession and put many people out of work to make the jobs return.

Ok I tried now I will go sit in the corner.

It's your own fault for nicknaming your dollar the Loonie.

You're fucked. :)

Maybe it's the shrubs master plan.

Destroy the value of the Dollar. Put the economy into recession and put many people out of work to make the jobs return.

Ok I tried now I will go sit in the corner.

Or to make it easier to unite with Canada and Mexico. I watched a documentary 'bout this. Kinda scary.

In the end, it would be far easier to adopt a common currency than to try to keep exchange rates fixed at a given level.

Hell no. Long live the US dollar.

It's your own fault for nicknaming your dollar the Loonie.

You're fucked. :)

Nah! They are not that bad.

In Nicaragua they use cars!

Córdoba

I wonder if Ricardo Montalban runs the place?

In the end, it would be far easier to adopt a common currency than to try to keep exchange rates fixed at a given level.
In the long term, yes. But Europe took about 20 years to get to the level where that was possible. New applicants to it still operate a peg of sorts for a while before being able to join.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exchange_Rate_Mechanism

Fucking brits. No, you're not even that. Canadans are Brit rejects, the only thing lower is a wombat or an Aussie Jr. Canadia is everything that's wrong with the world, they want to be just like America except not at all like America. Before the sixities it was an okay place, America's hat and backyard but it was ruined by the Great Hippy Exodus and now you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany except for that island populated by Gingers.

For my closing argument I'd just like to say "French Canada".

I just read this:
Love the one you're with (www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9993537)
http://www.economist.com/images/20071020/CFN209.gif

Fucking brits. No, you're not even that. Canadans are Brit rejects, the only thing lower is a wombat or an Aussie Jr. Canadia is everything that's wrong with the world, they want to be just like America except not at all like America. Before the sixities it was an okay place, America's hat and backyard but it was ruined by the Great Hippy Exodus and now you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany except for that island populated by Gingers.

For my closing argument I'd just like to say "French Canada".

Ok. Now take your medication.

Before the sixities it was an okay place, America's hat and backyard but it was ruined by the Great Hippy Exodus and now you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany except for that island populated by Gingers.
What, Ireland?

What'd Ireland ever do to you? Came and made you some potatoes, is what. Worked hard for you, is what. Made your quasi-Brit bigot life better, is what! Ran your damned factories, is what! Dug you some damned canals, is what!

You just shut up about Ireland! :mad:

It's your own fault for nicknaming your dollar the Loonie.

You're fucked. :)

Don't forget the Twonie.

Actually what the respective dollars are worth doesn't matter. What matters is the PPP (purchasing power parity). As long as we Canucks can get our PS-3s cheaper than down south, I'm happy.

Now food, clothes, cars, etc. we are still getting :upyours: over compared to the Yanks.

Now food, clothes, cars, etc. we are still getting --- over compared to the Yanks.

God bless arbitrage...

I converted all my cash into Cacao beans. I plan on holding this position until after 2012.

Damn Bush. He's eating up the economy.

mmmmm..... currency.....

Fucking brits. No, you're not even that. Canadans are Brit rejects, the only thing lower is a wombat or an Aussie Jr. Canadia is everything that's wrong with the world, they want to be just like America except not at all like America. Before the sixities it was an okay place, America's hat and backyard but it was ruined by the Great Hippy Exodus and now you'll never find a more wretched hive of scum and villany except for that island populated by Gingers.

For my closing argument I'd just like to say "French Canada".
If you are going to rubbish Canada, you may as well put a bit of effort into it, rather than just nick insults from Star Wars.