the dollar goes kaput

[merchimerch]

Wow! When I was living in the U.K. in 2001, the dollar was worth about 1.5 British Pounds, and no one was paying much attention to the Euro because it was so friggen cheap.

Today, a mere 7 years later, the dollar just hit 2 pounds, and is now worth 1.5 Euros.

I wonder, will this inspire us to start making our own stuff again?

Probably not, since we import from even softer money countries. A girl can dream though.

Comments

[mermaidlady]

I've been watching currency with a very unhappy eye. I love London, but the last time we went (2006) was just too expensive and it's only getting worse. Paying for meals was so painful.

I curse constantly that I didn't buy Euros when they were less than a dollar. I've really been wanted to go back to Athens, which I remember as being a really affordable trip, but that was when drachmas were still valid currency.

[densaer.livejournal.com]

The bottom is falling out of the dollar.

Oil is hitting a new high


And people here are getting the squeeze in between. Our financial house is a mess and there does not seem to be the will to address many of these issues. Blah!

[fallen42.livejournal.com]

We do most of our importing from China, which artificially keeps the yuan undervalued with respect to the dollar, so there is no change there. However, the weaker dollar gives the US the chance to compete in far more export markets which should help close the trade gap.

[kuwdora.livejournal.com]

My pocket cries every time I go to buy food.

[extraspecialk.livejournal.com]

it's pretty awesome for my canadian inheritance though, i must say. I NEVER remember the canadian dollar being above par, and now it is!

whoot!

[aelfscine.livejournal.com]

It will help us with exporting, if we had anything to export. We could pull China's trick and say "Have a brand new motherboard, only $500!" And since $500 is barely enough to buy a Big Mac anywhere else, people would love our motherboards.

But yes, overall this is sucky.

One thing I wonder is, what happens to existing debts if the value of the dollar goes down? If I have $30,000 in student loans and suddenly the dollar's worth half as much, does the value of my debt effectively become less?