Posted on 10/25/2007 8:12:27 PM PDT by Philistone
To read the MSM headlines (which I try not to) the falling dollar is the end of the world. Maybe Wall Street should get a Noble Prize for their work in "Global Dollar Cooling". But seriously, what are the effects of a weak dollar?
1) Increased exports. Last month's exports were among the highest on record. Trade deficit? What trade deficit? Boeing, Caterpiller, Microsoft, Apple, etc. all with surges in foreign export sales.
2) Outsourcing? What outsourcing? All of the sudden it becomes cheaper to employ an American technician than one from Bangalore.
3) Cost of living? (I love this part!) Since China has pegged the Yuan to the Dollar, everything we get from China costs exactly the same! Maybe this will convince them to unlink the Yuan. Then we'll REALLY see who's the best producer.
4) Buhh... buhh... buhh... but foreigners will stop buying American Treasuries! What? In order to buy Russian ones? Chinese ones? Venezualian ones? Give me a break.
A weak Dollar equals: more exports, more jobs, more tourists (spending money) and the same or higher standard of living.
Bring it on!
The present banking system (federal Reserve) which is owned by private banks are the first and only cause of the problems with our paper money.
Who actually owns the Federal Reserve Central Banks? The ownership of the 12 Central banks, a very well kept secret, has been revealed: 1. Rothschild Bank of London 2. Warburg Bank of Hamburg 3. Rothschild Bank of Berlin 4. Lehman Brothers of New York 5. Lazard Brothers of Paris 6. Kuhn Loeb Bank of New York 7. Israel Moses Seif Banks of Italy 8. Goldman, Sachs of New York 9. Warburg Bank of Amsterdam 10. Chase Manhattan Bank of New York.
I am already trying to do something about the dollar’s fall: I am a gold bug. Zimbabwe has a falling dollar (for reasons similar to the fall of our own dollar), and isn’t the economic utopia you describe. IMO we are headed towards hyperinflation, probably a decade or two away. The rush to the exits is still orderly, but it is occurring. (Look at the prices of commodities: real stuff you can buy, instead of other’s paper.)
“I thought the text accompanying the graphic to which you referrred jedward was excellent.”
I agree! And there were several other articles and graphics of interest by the same source:
Economic Policy Institute
http://www.epi.org
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Snapshot for June 27, 2007.
Wal-Mart’s reliance on Chinese imports costs U.S. jobs
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm?id=2749
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October 9, 2007 (revised) (originally released May 2, 2007) EPI Briefing Paper #188
Costly Trade With China
Millions of U.S. jobs displaced with net job loss in every state
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm?id=2674
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No Cheers For CAFTA
THIS PIECE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY TOMPAINE.COM ON OCTOBER 19, 2007
by Ottón Solís
October 19, 2007
The Wall Street Journal may say “Bravo, Costa Rica” on its Opinion page October 9, but almost half of the people who voted in the Central American Free Trade Agreement referendum October 7 are not celebrating.
We are proud that our health and environmental policies are, by far, the best in the region, that our democracy is founded on an extensive system of family farming, that our telecommunications services are lower priced and more efficient than those of our neighbors, that we abolished all military forces 60 years ago, and that our laws forbid the trade and production of weapons and their parts. All these sources of national pride are threatened by CAFTA. That is why we tried to stop it through a popular referendum.
http://www.epi.org/content.cfm?id=2813
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I recommend those articles to anyone interested in learning.
We are about to lower interest rates 50 basis points next Wednesday,....that ought to set the dollar into a death spiral. It is said the dollar will be stopped at about .55 USDX. That means your savings which 15 months ago wouth 900 dollars will have a purchacing power of 550 dollars.
So much for the goodness of a weak dollar. We are shadow boxing now. When it hits, and it will, tell me a USDX of .55 is good. A loaf of bread will be $4.00. Gasoline will be $5.00. YOu see we will get to pay taxes on the large earnings of that $900 and what is left over you will get to buy $5.00 gasoline.
Firstly, thank you for a very well explained reply. I appreciate that. Couple of quick questions...
“Europeans see a price break from the U.S. but they (and everyone else) lose a ton on dollars they hold when they report in euro and their exporters get shelled. This is hurting almost everyone else badly.”
Is this where the “dumping the dollar” is understood to be taking place?
“U.S. imports are around 10% of GDP.”
Let’s say I make gumballs :) 90% of my product cost is from imported ingredients and the other 10% domestically. I sell 100% of end product domestically. What portion of my 100% of end product is considered part of our national GDP?
“It hasn’t hurt Exxon, has it? And people must have money (from increased economic activity) because they are not driving any less.”
I understand what you’re saying here, but you’re basing this on an increase in economic activity. Is that not a bet hedge?
“With oil at over $90.00 a barrel,,,”
Here’s a morning headline for ya :) Hell, we’ll just watch it cross 100 on this thread eventually.
‘Oil crosses $92 on Middle East discord Anchorage Daily News, Alaska 11:04’
“Then his daddy worked for a stupid company.”
The daddy is known as Mr ‘middle-american’ and just wants a better life for their children. He remembers when the company was still owned by Americans, whose loyalties were domestic. Those days were long gone, and he didn’t have a seat on the board, so his options were pretty limited. Now, unemployed, I suppose he can begin whining about how stupid his company was while he looks 3 counties over for a new job that will no doubt require an additional 45 mile commute. He can whine about that as well as his being forced to commute farther with even higher gas prices.
Moral of this story...Mr. middle-american doesn’t know or care to know the details. He simply wants relief, or some hope of it.
Man oh man. With "pure capitalism," no doubt.
That’s why he should vote Dem or for some other economic populist. Remember, his understanding of such matters is limited to gumballs.
Greed = RATIONAL self interest. Greed is rational and natural.
Hey YOU! Mornin’...to hell with the Dems, but that kid wants 3 gumballs dammit! :)
They should give it back to the government? LOL!
We need a panic of the day email or ping list. Then we won’t have to think about what to panic about.
A kid walks into a store and goes up to the counter and asks the owner for 3 giant gumballs. The kid then puts their dollar bill on the counter and smiles, awaiting their favorite gumball colors. The owner said “I’m so sorry dear child, but you can no longer have 3 gumballs for a dollar, but I can give you two.” The kid said “I don’t understand”. The owner simply replied “You see, when the dollar was strong, people complained that I was buying too many imported gumballs. Well, that dollar bill isn’t as valuable today as it was yesterday, so you get 1 less gumball now.” The kid replied “So this is what that guy on TV was talking about when he said a weaker dollar is a good thing.” The owner replies, “Well that would be true if I could buy domestic gumballs more cheaply, but I can’t because the government drove all the domestic gumball makers out of the country. On top of that, Charlie Rangel is raising my taxes so I have to make up the difference.” The kid snatches their dollar off the counter and says “That jerk must not chew gumballs. Damn experts.” The store owner just frowns and watches the kid leave without buying anything, and mutters to himself “Future Clinton voter.”
I think he's been selling over 1,000,000 shares a month for the last 15 years, to diversify.
You think that in the old days, companies really gave a sh-t about "national responsibility?" Don't you realize that, the days of some schlub working at a plant for a middle class salary only lasted from the end of WWII to the early 1970s (a brief period of our history) and were due to cheap oil, the destruction of Europe in the war, and the fact that the Asian economies had not developed?
Yeah, I want to go back to the days when my granpa worked all day at a filthy factory to go home to a tiny rowhouse in an inner city neighborhood. But hey, at least he had a job in a factory.
There is a place where economic nationalism is still the currency of choice. It is called Africa (or Venezuela, Bolivia, Myanmar, etc.). The "third way" (economic nationalism) leads to the Third World.
I keep forgetting that we're not the "real" conservatives here in this forum...sheeesh!
Using what dictionary? The Fidel Castro version?
The Free Masons?
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