[Dutchguy]

Strange times, indeed.

[durasell]

I was in an electronics store in lower Manhattan and a couple of German tourists were buying 9 iPods, marveling at how cheap they were.

We’re becoming like Mexico...

[DB]

ATM machine with ATM card... Duh...

Instant local currency without the big exchange fees.

[Moonman62]

We have to go downtown, to the central station or post office."

Oh the humanity! This is worse than the Holocaust.

[Vet_6780]

The bill is coming due.

Debt deflation and commodity inflation.

Dual disaster befalls The Debt People.

[napscoordinator]

Well gee, maybe you should use Euro then. What makes Americans think that they can use dollars in foreign countries. Yes some do take dollars but perhaps instead of complaining just use Euro. The airport has change places all over the place and ATMs can give you Euro. I do it all the time. Not that difficult. You are on their property after all. Americans demand that foreigners learn their culture but refuse to do it in another country??? WTF???

[deuteronlmy232]

But how can this be? The fed said last year that inflation was only 2.3% for after all that's what they increased Social Security by. < /sarcasm>

Our government was designed by honorable men to be run by honorable men, I fear scallywags have taken it over.

[USS Alaska]

Not a good time to be a tourist in europe. The exchange rate will hurt your wallet.

[AmericanInTokyo]

Strange times, indeed.

America is changing.

And we can accept it, not be in denial, make some choices, band together as a nation, and take action.

Or we can deny it, continue to leisurely sip our mint julips on the deck of the HMS Titanic, and be in for a rude awakening when 1/2 of our country is colonized by Mexico and Central America, we no longer manufacture anything except McDonalds' Chicken McNuggets (if you order in Spanish), and any of the good, well-paying white collar jobs are taken by Raheed, Pratika and all their MBA and IT friends in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

I think it won't hit a lot of Americans until it is too late, because by and large the American news media does not inform the US about the larger, vibrant and ass-kicking (economic) world outside, the world that is going to eat our economic lunch, because they have vast swaths of the US populace opiated and dumbed down on Oprah, Spitzer, Britney and Paris (Hilton) to notice.

Bread and circuses.

I suspect when more and more Americans like Mary Kelly from Indianapolis, Indiana go overseas as tourists and try to buy something on the lousy, castrated US dollar, and are breathless, thinking "WTF??!!", it will hit them--as they eat spam in their hotel rooms heated on sterno--and when they return to tell their friends and word will spread. Until then, not enough Americans go overseas to notice such things first hand, but notice they will I suppose.

[uncbob]

Socialism and reality is going to have to catch up with the Euros eventually

[jjw]

Time to load up on the stock of american exporters. I have no doubt we will soon read stories about the unfair American weak dollar policy. This will also wreak havoc on the Chinese with their effective dollar peg.

[quadrant]

Perhaps Ms Kelly should take her vacation in the US where she would be troubled with the problem of currency value fluctuations.