The DOLLAR is rapidly becoming WORTHLESS and nobody gives a FUCK!!!!

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a7NG3GMLEJdQ&refer=home

Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar may extend a decline against the euro after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in four years, dimming the allure of the U.S. currency.

Traders drove the dollar to a record low against the euro yesterday after the Fed cut its target rate for overnight loans between banks by a half-percentage point to 4.75 percent amid concern that the worst housing slump in 16 years may threaten economic growth. Reports today are forecast to show housing starts dropped last month while a gauge of inflation slowed.

``Growth and interest-rate differentials are both turning against the dollar,'' said Samarjit Shankar, director of global strategy for the Global Markets group in Boston at Bank of New York Mellon. ``This confirms the dollar bears' view. We are easily running toward $1.4 now. Probably within a week.''

Yikes

It means less, but thanks to the China debacle, we might just start making more things at home again...

There are any number of possibilities.

Let's wait and see. Economic growth will slow, but it may not.

Hell, I might risk opening my own business too.

oops. Guess that didn't work out as planned

I'm pretty shocked that the Canadian dollar now trumps our dollar. This is the Bush Legacy. It's amazing, but not surprising to most of us here that Bush has essentially flushed this country down the crapper in just a few short years. That takes talent.

We're a net exporting country, so a high CDN dollar is bad for us, too.

You have the same standard of living as US citizens plus national health care. Though the high CDN dollar may threaten that, how have you managed to be a net exporter over the past 10 years when the US is such a large net importer?

Some at DU seem to think that the only net exporters are Third World countries with low wages and weak regulations.

we have more trees, wheat, oil and natural gas than we use.

Sid

the dollar is still worth more than the loon, though not for long.

The criminals do have a track record of changing government policies to increase their banking accounts...

to have absolutely nothing to show for it. Like, Nothing.

US dollar = $1.02 Canadian???

and get $1.55 Canadian for $1.00 US. Nice job george.

Cheap trips to Canada are fun, but our own economy is in a recession.

are Europeans.

we comparatvely much poorer the Great Dictator.

But the Empire lives on - for now.

in droves to snatch up the bargains to be had here. The whole country is being sold off at bargain basement prices, thanks to the economic geniuses that have run things here since the 80s.

My sister's best friends are from Australia, where they were comfortable middle class (think $180,000 annual income), they've bought six houses in Florida and Arizona and own three businesses thanks to the lack of qualifications and plummeting value of our money.

I see the arrogance and insolence of the Ugly Europeans as they saunter around Ground Zero and shop for cehap goods at Century 21.

We'll have to do something about that.

Europeans, Aussies and Canadians make good neighbors. :hi:

Bring it on!

Everyone has to make sacrifices, especially the Federal treasury. :)

a catastrophic financial collapse.

I don't wish it on the rest of us of course, but Bush's negligence could produce any number of further internal, systemic failures that would be a horrendous blow.

As bad as he is, my hunch is he's probably even worse.

As bad as he is, my hunch is he's probably even worse.

but I should be sitting pretty good with them.

from my trip to Belgium this summer.

Pretty soon I'm gonna be fucking RICH!

:banghead:

We went to Belgium in 2002, when the dollar was worth slightly more than the Euro. I still have a bit of change left, as well as a 5 E note. Guess I should hang on to it.

at ALL COSTS. Our US currency is becoming worth-less AND YOU are so right; VERY FEW really give a shit!! INFLATION hasn't even begun to reel its ugly head.

Twas bound to happen sooner or latter.

I bet there is not a million in gold left in Fort Knox.

Traders didn't drive the dollar anywhere, they are simply tired of paying gold and sweat for overprinted, unbacked paper.

Strap in, its gonna get way worse than you or I can imagine.

or rather the old Fiats that were imported in the 1970s (Fiat= fix it again Tony), which a tendency to break down...

Time to start hording those cans of spaghetti sauce and lots of dry pasta; it is going to be a long, cold winter...climate change or not.

Best avatar ever,btw.

Paid to us in Euros but they wouldn't hear of it.

They just printeed up some old Greenbacks on the latest HP technology and mailed them to us.

dollar backed assets for a while now. However, I think we're going to take most of the rest of the world down with us. There really is no safe place, so maybe it's best to just run up a lot of debt. US Savers have been screwed for the past 7 years.

for export.

Economics. That's what he said....so...that's what it is. We are all hooked on TV series rather than worrying about trifling, piddling things like the dollar.

Whaaa? You think someone should care about this? After all Bush has kept everything going through "9/11 and War." He's gotta be doing something correct. He's the only President in History to manage a disastor at home and War without raising taxes. Instead ...according to EVERYONE he's given us full employment and rising salaries and Homeownership in record numbers! He's amazing and so are his advisors.

:patriot:

was fantastic. He buys into all that bullshit they sell on that network. Buy! Buy! Buy! I saw him yesterday and I told to say goodbye to the dollar but he said that nothing is going to happen because the talking heads on CNBC said so. :eyes:

However, I certainly have a different "take" than your father-in-law. :) I don't buy much of what is said on CNBC.

because they will panic and stop spending money and charging their credit cards up to the max!

It's bad for business ya know? :grr:

I agree. There is no place in the USA for a privately owned and operated bank (Federal Reserve) that controls the printing presses that has resulted in devaluation in the value of our fiat money.

What they and our Congress are in the process of doing is supporting Wall St, the banks and investors in real estate by lowering interest rates and by backing the mortgage loans under the full faith of the US government.

This has nothing to do with saving the little overstretched home owner from foreclosure.

That was a huge mistake, to give our monetary control to these private banks. Now we have "Helicopter" Bernanke at the printing press controls.

Find one close to you here:

http://www.localharvest.org/

live in reverse economy (2nd largest producer of gold in the world) things are crazy here.

Folks-- get a grip.

What can one person do to fix an economy of 300 million people and a currency that defies definition ...

Here's a solution.

Rule 1: Enough with the "End is nigh" Threads.
If folks feel a need, stick your head in the oven, then realize how completely asinine
you'll look when they find you comotose with heating-coil/gas-burner head. Remove head
from oven and go read a book

Rule 2: When one feels the need to type in all caps, cut off the first knuckle from alternate
fingers, but both thumbs. If anything the blood-loss will make you forget whatever it was
you were so hepped up about. After you regain your senses, you'll find it harder to reach
for the shift key...don't even think about Cap Lock

Rule 3: Realize that folks are trying to live their lives, pay down debt, survive in an
increasingly hostile environment (cultural, economic, political, etc.) and don't need
to have doomsayers screeching ad nauseum as they try and find some helpful discourse
on the forum

Rule 4: Chill.

Rule 5: Have some dip.

any amount will do just in case ...

:scared:

and due to some financial manipulation, the stock market goes through the roof.

thanks to those smoke and mirrors the rich continue to get richer, and the rest of us are paycheck to paycheck, with less buying power than 20 years ago.

the disconnect is absolutely mind-fucking...

:grr:

what to do about it.

Perhaps there is nothing to do, so let's all have fun placing the blame.

and raise them for the wealthy!

That way:

a) the bills get paid still.
b) with more of America (those that aren't rich now) relying on relatively more of their salary being saved they have more spending power as a result of the shift in tax burdens.
c) as a result of b, more Americans will be able to buy houses those that have outstanding home loans, etc. will less likely go into foreclosure situations.
d) as a result of c, interest rates can be kept steady or even raised at some point.
e) as a result of d, our dollar won't continue to deflate as more foreign investors will like getting better returns from a dollar that's "bottomed out".
f) with more Americans getting wealthy from their own currency gaining ground, we will have to "sell off" our nation less and less to the likes of China, etc., making us stronger.

It's just about us getting more from our salaries rather than home equity. The first can have sustainable gains in society. The latter can't, and at some point will collapse everything if it gets out of control, which it IS now!

Medicare/single-payer for all, Free College (Public) education, and the addition of a Dept of Peace... and that looks like the Kucinich plan!

:)

He is my candidate of choice and I support his campaign. However, the thought flashes: Read Betram Gross' Friendly Fascism, written in 1980. In it he makes the case that if a truly progressive candidate ever ended up in the White House, he would quickly be rendered ineffectual by the power establishment already in place. Only those that first and foremost protect the status quo of imbalance and greed get in and receive the coalition-building support of the political-economic establishment. All the rest, if their candidacy ever see the light of day, die the death of a thousand cuts. (Such was Gross' argument.)

Really
the police try to protect
the banks - and everything else
is secondary
-- DA Levy, Surburban Monastery Death Poem

i prefer to believe if ever we got to where we could truly vote in a progressive candidate, the people would stand by him/her. It is akin to saying (and i'm tired of hearing it), "Kucinich couldn't get elected, so why should i even consider him?".

Is this a participatory Democracy? Do people really want to have their candidate chosen for them? I sure don't...

and hey, the book's from 1980... need i say more?

:shrug:

I am not defeatist. What I said is NOT the same thing as saying "Kucinich couldn't get elected" (what flashed on me, when I thought of Gross' book, was that a good argument could be made that he wouldn't be effective, which is different than saying "he couldn't get elected").

"Is this a participatory Democracy?" No it isn't. Doesn't 7 years of Bush prove that to you?

"and hey, the book's from 1980... need i say more?" I mentioned the date because I think things have gotten exponentially worse since then. In 1980, roughly 2000 firms owned the 29,000+ major media outlets. In 1980 the top 10% of our socio-economic pyramid owned less than 35% of the nation's wealth, a figure that is consistent with the 30-40 years of emergent "middle class" society in America, arguably a historical abberation. In 2007, those 29,000+ major media outlets are owned by just 5 firms -- and they spew forth the memes of movement conservatism 24 hours a day. As for concentration of wealth, well, we're back to the 45% consistent with what Krugman calls today the "Long Guilded Age". It is much tougher today for the progressive idea to get heard, much less survive and thrive. However, we are ripe for one of those dialectic inversions, perhaps a little "revolution".

Having said that, Dennis is my candidate. He was in 2004 as well. And Dennis, as progressive as he is, stands politically to my right. It would be against my nature to support any one else in the primaries.

You ought to read Gross' book. Although it was written in 1980, it anticipated what we have today, which is the marriage of corporate and state power to preserve and advance the advantage of a priviledged class. It has been a very effective marriage. The evidence is all around you.

:banghead:

Kucinich is the only rational choice to lead us out of the morass the Losers in charge have created!

a new government department and free college isn't going to balance the budget, which is the basic reason we're having this problem.

you "hate to tell me" that. Have you looked at the www.dennis4president.com website?

He's got ways to pay for things. How much money would we save on WARS if he were President? Remember Rummy's missing 3 trillion dollars announced on Sept 10th, 2001? Think Kooch would've let that slide? Ever heard of Progressive taxes? What would booting NAFTA, WTO, etc do?

You can look for depth, it's there. What Kucinich is talking about is restructuring our systems to fit the needs of the people. The money is there, or was there... we'll only really get the picture of how deeply this country was looted until after the robbers are out of power. Unfortunately, whoever gets in will have the most intractable financial situation this country has ever faced. Kinda like the city of Cleveland , when Dennis was Mayor... how'd he do then?

don't believe the hype about him, just read what he's got to say...

www.dennis4president.com

or

www.dk2008.us

:shrug:

The key is to stop this raid on our treasury that has been going on since 1980. If those people were paying their fair share, we would have money to make sure that these services and the commons were well taken care of. And we'd have a lot better national debt and interest rate payments that wouldn't have the dollar in the toilet.

taxes are only for the little people remember?

Rich, poor, middle class.


If the poor and middle class receive most of the benefits, they ought to pay some of it. Even if it as significantly reduced rate.

to TAXES, but when they lose purchasing power, there isn't a peep from them.

This constant printing press being run by the Fed is going to ruin us.

Wow....one cent from parity.

but what the hell can i do about it?

i've been bitching about the bush soft dollar policy from day one, bush never made it a secret that his goal was to destroy the value of the dollat, he and snow said explicitly that they were going to follow a soft dollar policy

google it if you don't believe me

they are just doing what they said, stealing from the average person and making it impossible for them to travel or escape the country if they are not exceptional

I told him that oil was going to shoot up in price, the dollar was going to drop, but the Euro would stay stable or increase. I based this on peak oil, and that countries were thinking about not keeping the dollar as an oil currency. He asked his high priced financial advisors about this, and they told him that I was nuts (I have no formal financial or economic training). If he would have listened to me, he would have made a killing.

Companies like CAT will see increased orders from overseas as will any US company that manufactures and exports goods. Granted, there aren't many left, but those that do remain will see a bump in sales, overtime pay, etc, etc...

MZr7

Get those pesky worthless dollars out of your life...mail them to... :rofl:

What does one expect when we have a reckless executive that has off-shored this economy and defecit spent us into decline? As long as this war for profit continues, this regime will defecit spent and force the fed to continue to cut rates to hold inflation and drop the value of the dollar further. This regime shows no signs of making any changes as it knows it can get away with its kleptocracy.

The downside is the price of oil will get higher that will strangle this economy and the middle class further. The updside...and yes there is one...is the lower dollar will make American-made goods and services more attractive abroad as those will become more competitive and may even start reverse off-shoring as the cost of living and standards rise. This happened in Japan, Taiwan and South Korea.

before falling back just under $0.99. Par with the USD is probably not far off.

Sid

:scared:

no matter how much it costs.

Conversely, we're planning a vacation to Oak Island in NC for April. It's getting cheaper every day.

Sid

Have fucked this country for good. I've taken to throwing shit "Made in China" across the fucking stores when I can't find a damn thing made in this country anymore. I've been kicked out of a Home Depot store for making a point. I'm fed up with this crap to the point I'd love to see some CEO's heads on a stake. They are the traitors. The fascists. The Sell-outs, and we are the ones paying the price.

Imports are going to cost more as the dollar loses value.

Goodbye national debt.

Money should not be created by private institutions... even if it were back by gold in the distant past.

Money should be created by an international democratic labor union, and administered democratically, and backed by the collective resources of labor.

All who wish to move to this paradigm must act united or face being vulnerable to shorting wars.

And we must target all wealth-based currencies with a shorting war effort of our own.

Economics comes in two paradigms: It takes work to create wealth and It takes wealth to create wealth.

The second paradigm is the reasoning behind trickle-down economics and is merely a pyramid scheme.

Peace!

Of course, doomsday prophets do not go away, even when the opposite of their prediction happens.

n/t

One way or the other, we truly do not know what will happen - and damn it to fuckin' hell - so many people go ape over one god damn web site that we all take on some perverted version of "faith".

Wait and see. Anyone else can do what they want, but don't expect me to jump into the acid bath.

otherwise we implode.


I don't see why we can't just keep it going with a controlled expansion, like the Universe :) I like a continual, controlled inflationary sceneario rather than a deflationary scenario where the value of the dollar rises rather than falls.

Of course...if you want to talk about what this ever-expanding economy does to the limited ecological system of the Earth, well, that's a different discussion :(

My husband's company is sending us to England for three weeks in October. Unless they come up with some kind of substantial differential we're going to lose a boatload of family income on the deal.

It's this fiscal responsibility as exercised by a conservative small government Republican administration. And yes, that would be sarcasm of the most outrageous kind.

and possibly Iran...

Saudi-Arabia : http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1850874
Venezuela : someone link the thread of a couple days back - I lost my star so it seems :-/

and OJ was let out today on bail

I mean, Perhaps I should get my priorities straight

By the way, this and the vote on Hebeas Corpus are just as critical

but

there was a kid tasered and OJ left jail

:sarcasm:

Rec'd.

Also US/CAN dollar parity has not happened since the Ford Administration. At that time, the worst the US Dollar sunk was a little over 95 cents. Let's see if the Chimpenfurher can "top" that!

Once the dollar hits parity, we should e-mail KO and Maher with the news.

Slavery has never ended.

It's just that:

a) there's not a damned thing we, as individuals, can do, and
b) columnists like Krugman have been warning about this shit for 5 or 6 years now. It's not a surprise, it's just the long anticipated sound of the other shoe dropping.

:sarcasm:

Those are godless, socialist, welfare states! With their socialized health care and socialized education! So how can their currency be worth more than ours? They were cowardly and wouldn't fight in Iraq with us.

And, they don't even have NASCAR!!!!


:sarcasm:

There's still hope for the Europeans.:silly:

They sure as hell don't have any Toby Keith CDs.

Must be me cause I certainly give a f***. But for all the good my caring does I may as well be nobody.

Trying to explain basic economics around here is worthless.

The dollar reducing value is good for the US in a number of ways.


Remember the 80s when the panic over the Japanese "yellow peril" and them buying real estate in the US? Please compare the growth rates of Japan and the US 80-07.

I can't wait for the day my creditors come to collect my debts and I pay them in change.

Will be more affordable!

Do we export anything else?

Imports are getting more expensive, and that means our exports will be more competitive on the world market. We can't live on credit forever, and less imported crap is good for the environment and our manufacturers.

It's the Canadians and Europeans (along with international investors) who are upset about this.

If (when?) that happens, we are SO FUCKED.

If investors no longer want dollars, that means we have to begin living within our means.

It's not a god-given right to steal from our grandchildren by leaving them trillions in debt.

If the dollar crashes people will be buying loaves of bread with wheelbarrows full of cash. Worrying about the dollar crashing has NOTHING to do with people living within their means.

We grow all the wheat we could possibly need in this country. The exchange rate should have nothing to do with the price of bread. If it does, that's only because subsidized "free trade" makes it cheaper to import wheat from Canada or China while home-grown wheat rots in government-funded silos...

And "mercantilism" is a policy that slavishly promotes international trade at the expense of the domestic workforce.

Look... if foreign investors stop funding all our dept we are fucked, plain and simple.

Again, loans have to be paid back. Not free money. We don't have a right to "kite" our debt to future generations anyhow.

Nevermind... you obviously think it'd be a great thing.

Have at it.

The real trouble comes when he sobers up! :sarcasm:

It's delusional to believe that we can live on credit forever. It's way more just that the bill goes to the people who are actually spending the money.

False choice.

This is fucking stupid.

This means living on credit becomes MUCH more expensive.

For a country whose spending is out of control, this is a good thing.

if they can find better odds elsewhere? And WHAT do you think will happen, once they've realized it's time to cut their losses?

Perhaps it's time for America to be something other than a giant Ponzi scheme?

Think of "foreign investors" as your credit card company. Instead of sending the bill to YOU, they send the bill to your children and grandchildren (i.e. via US treasury bonds). One day, the foreign investor decides to stop loaning you money; he can make more elsewhere.

Your children and grandchildren cheer! Less debt for them. You cry. Less "stuff" for you.

Complaining that debt will be more expensive now, after we've saddled future generations with trillions of debt is kind of like a burglar complaining that he didn't get a chance to clean out the vault before the alarm went off; in either case, the burglar made off with more than he deserved in the first place!

That horse already left the barn.

Which country does the US buy the most oil from?


Sid

If Canadian oil is more expensive, then I expect we will have to use less of it. :think:

Are you sure you can't get by with fewer Euros in your diet?

this is from an ANGRY former republican investor who says we are screwed. That Bernacke's bailing out of speculators will be the downfall of us all.

It's frighening-can someone knowledgeble pls de-bunk it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3N7PU9ohMI

note: MCM= Mark Crispin Miller-the NYU professor.

Ah... another nickel.