[Southack]

"Why do Snow & Bush say they are, and from what you say, actually follow a "high-dollar policy"? No matter their intent, it seems to do no good, does it? The $ just keeps falling, making them look helpless. Am I missing something?"

Yes, you are missing what is going *unsaid*. Bush does favor a strong Dollar, but what is unsaid is that we are far from the Dollar being just "strong," we are at a point where the Dollar is grossly overvalued (still).

A strong Dollar is vastly below current Dollar levels.

It's an easy test to see fair market value for a currency such as the Dollar: when imports = exports, then your currency is at fair market value. A strong Dollar will have slightly more imports than exports. A weak Dollar will have slightly more exports than imports.

Right now, we still have vastly more imports than exports, so the Dollar has a long way to fall before imports are only slightly more than exports (i.e. the Strong Dollar point).

[Sarah]

It is outrageously expensive for an American living in France to pay the basics!
It is so odd, like to fly, I buy the ticket from America (and leave before I come...) and save 30%!
Something's fishy. The cost of living is outrageous! Where did the dollar's value go?

[txrangerette]

Ok, I grasp the difference between Bush wanting a strong dollar and the fact that we have an overvalued dollar. I know they aren't defining this, however, in their public statements, and repeatedly they are asked about the falling $, to which their answer (that they are pursuing a strong $ policy, but leaving out the rest), makes them sound helpless, I still say.