Posted on 11/29/2006 6:29:22 AM PST by shrinkermd
No one, of course, wants to see the dollar in a free fall. And no question, it has retreated against some currencies. But worried? We arent.
The dollar isnt weak at all. Indeed, its trading 19% above its level in the mid-1990s, smack in the middle of the Internet boom. True, its come off the highs it set in early 2002, when foreign investors still spooked after 9/11 were desperate to invest in a safe haven with sound markets, the rule of law, low interest rates and fast economic growth. That pushed the buck up sharply.
...The other is that, contrary to lots of current market reports, the U.S. currency isnt nearing new lows at all. The reason is simple: Many people focus on very narrow measures of the dollars value like the dollar-euro, or the dollar-yen, or even the dollar-yuan. By those gauges, yes, the dollar is hitting new lows or close to them.
...But this is an error. Far better is looking at the dollar against a broad market basket of currencies weighted for the amount of trade they do with the U.S. When you do, you see that while its true the greenback has slumped in recent months, over the long term its not down at all. And why has the dollar fallen recently?
(Excerpt) Read more at epaper.investors.com ...
I will disagree with your generalization about abuses "being eliminated", unless "being eliminated" means by the destruction of the overall system. Too often in history we have seen socioeconomic conditions pushed to extremes wherein the entire system along with its associated political structure is brought to a crashing end by abuses. Political, social, and economic stability is most often attained by keeping the various factors away from the extremes, with competing forces maintaining some kind of rough balance so the middle ground becomes the sustainable, desirable mode of operation. Abuses can be self-correcting, for sure, but sometimes only by catastrophic and calamitous events.
My fear is that the present economic course in this country is pushing us towards one of these extremes, and that will cause unnecessary and avoidable stresses if we only have the wisdom to see it and act before it becomes uncorrectable except by extraordinary and traumatic means. It is a slow process and might take another generation to be fully manifest, but the signs are there if one views them with the eyes of history.
chimera, I feel as if I am talking to a child. Most of what you say is obvious, so obvious as to not need saying. I certainly agree with you on most of all you say. I was just trying to point you in the right direction for your solution. You have stated the answer yourself but then you continue to whine about it.
If your background is truly as you say (and I am sorry to say I no longer believe you) I can't imagine how you accumulated all that experience without learning basic reasoning ability.
Conversation is over from my perspective. I have said all I intend to say.
Sorry to see that you slipped in some personal insults. No need for that, really. For a while I thought we might reach some common ground and understanding. Disappointing, unfortunately.
Morality is the basis for all else we do in an orderly society. Some adhere to the rules but many don't. Also, R. Buckminster Fuller said that free enterprise has the unique ability to transfer the selfish desires of the individual into a good for the whole of society. I agree with that.
I will have to think further about your Fuller quotation. I had not heard it before but it merits further thought, perhaps the subject of another thread (with a cross-posting to morality and ethics).
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