Am I the only one who looks at this and goes uhhhhhh.......

[Xzin]

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=EURUSD=X&t=5y&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=

Because this basically says the US dollar has lost > 50% of its value vs the Euro over only a few short years.

And no matter what people may say, to somebody that holds dollars (in part), this trend is disturbing.

Potentially profitable though.

[Monkofdoom]

I find it disturbing indeed, although being someone who lives in Europe I'm sure it's a good thing for us (in some strange way)

[Remote]

It definitely doesn't scream "liquidate everything now!"
Unless you're liquidating into Euros, hehe.

[simpletom]

i had to quit my old job working in europe paid in US dollars was becomming a joke, every year saw a big drop in pay, new job paid in euros starts on the 2nd jan.

got a tip in dollars cash holding onto to for now hope it will pick up and be worth somthing.

anyone have any idea why its getting so weak to the euro?

[Kopitar]

Printing too much money...deficit...war in Iraq does not help....neither does the one in Afghanistan...

[unit187]

Actually this is very very good for us.

US dollar = 24.70 russian rubles. Some time ago it was over 30. The deeper dollar drops, the cheaper all trade goods become here in Russia.


Eh, I am get paid for work in dollars, but after all workers' whine our company fixed our payments so it counts like 1 dollar was 26 rubles. Good enough :)

[keyclone]

the dollar has been dropping ever since 1971 when we went off the Bretton Woods agreement of 1944... which basically allowed the trading of US dollars to gold at the fed.

funny... but we went off the gold standard instead basing the value of the dollar on US productivity...

then in the mid 70s... we started shipping Amercian production of goods offshore to cheap countries. there was a pull back from that in the 80s... then it went full bore from '92 on.

tough to base the value of your currency... on something your don't value yourself

[samuraicow]

here is view of things from my stand point (one that live in Israel)

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5280/biznogagraphshtmlbm2.png
this is Dolar\Shekel retio over the past 1825days

[code:1]http://www.bizportal.co.il/bizportalnew/graph/biznogagraph.shtml?p_id=1002&W=480&H=217&vol=0&Day=7300&fontsize=1&xvp=7&pfontsize=1&nores=1&yscale=1.2&logo=1&set=18[/code:1] switch the 7300 with number of days, any thing more then a year and less then 5 years work (note: that site only shows data sense 2002, witch is dame shame as if it shown from when your last presedent started till he finished (what 8 years?) you could see that the amount that One USD is worth today is exacly the same as when Bill (last Presedent) started, and that 4.95? just before he finished (i think :o, or was it date of going into iraq?)

I ern cash in acording to USD worth, the higher the worty of single usd the more I get paied so >.< I miss Bill, also note that majorty of thing's price is just traslate of usd worth so if dolar go down its not like I cant feed no more :p but still, more money is always good >.<

[keyclone]

if you can find it, try to find a US dollar value since 1940.. or as far back as you can go. it starts to plunge in the mid 70s with a slight recovery in the 80s.. then it continues to slide.

[samuraicow]

diged some, unfortly that site only stores info of past five years, i would love to see data of 1948>now days in regards USD worty and its retio to shekel (ISR was founded at 1948 but we used british money for a while (till 52? not sure) then we created the shekel (shekel is the name of the money that was used in israel over 2k years a go acording to sevral sorces (maily coins found at sevral sites+bible)


sad to be empty handed but couldnt find much :|

[Zseth]

How to make the US Dollar #1 in the world economy?


1 Easy Step

Nuke the rest of the world, FO SHO!

[aetherg]

Unfortunately, this is something that the government has encouraged, as a way to keep US exports competitive. It's great if you're trying to sell something abroad, because you can charge 49% more than you normally would and still undercut the competition. But of course it's a double-edged sword, especially if you let the currency slide as much as it is now...

[Djarid]

it looks a lot worse against GBP... ~2:1
And perhaps more worrying for you guys nearly 1:1 against the Canadian dollar

[keyclone]

in the 70s and 80s, the British pound was always 2:1 over the dollar.

[Sam DeathWalker]

Its very positive to both our export industries as well as our tourist industy. Vegas income is up 20 percent over last year.

So some wins and some lose.

[Taipan]

Hum...

It remains beneficial for US consumers because Asian Exports are still billed in USD but this may change and then it could mean disaster.

The chart only shows Forex since mid-2003 or so.

The actual change since Euro launch on Jan 1, 2002 is almost 100% gain for Euro, going from 1EUR = 0.8 USD in 2002 to 1Eur = 1.5 USD 2007.

While it looks nice for europeans buying products in USD (ie. mainly Asian exports, not really POS US cars, hehe), it is a true nightmare for EU export companies (Porsche & co aside).

We have an uber-educated idiot as head of EU Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet.

This guy went to the most elitist of the most elitist French schools and early governement jobs (French State Inspection of Finance, the "creme de la creme") and considers himself smarter than the rest of us, while succeeding to totally crash the largest french -state backed- bank in the wildest scandal ever (cost the French tax-payers about USD 20 billions...).

This retarded moron thinks keeping EU inflation under control is more important than supporting growth, he doesn't care about EU vs USD forex a second.

You know something goes wrong when Airbus CEO, direct competitor of Boeing, calls for relocating EU plane factories to the US in order to cushion the EU-USD Forex disaster.

I mean the same Airbus plane now costs TWICE more in USD than in 2002 !
Not because it has more features but only because of that Forex.

As one of your former US President candidates said, this is the sound of US sucking the skilled jobs of EU citizens.

Which is a serious fuck : the real threat for both EU and US economies isn't EU vs US competition.

Hint 1 : Vegas lost the # 1 spot of worldwide gambling cities in terms of annual sales.
Winner : chinese Macau, former portuguese colony 50 km east of HongKong.

Hint 2 : check the labels on your clothes, small electric appliances, IT components, mobile phones, mp3 players, toys, etc.
Can you still read "made in US / EU" ?

Now the good news is : selling a pair of Nike for USD 150-200 in a EU/US store while it cost only USD 10 to manufacture and import from China.

That, contrary to conventional wisdom, is tremendous and highly beneficial to both EU and US workers and companies.
It's the way to move forward, hopefully we can continue doing so.

But the sad truth is that most EU and US citizens are too poorly educated to figure out the benefit of such a trade...
They'll just scream "it's a scandal, you are ripping us off", not being able to assess where the added-value was distributed....
(remember : China only got USD 10 of the 150-200 retail price)

/salute

[Otlecs]

Vegas income is up 20 percent over last year.


Hint 1 : Vegas lost the # 1 spot of worldwide gambling cities in terms of annual sales.
Winner : chinese Macau, former portuguese colony 50 km east of HongKong.

Interesting facts.

I'm a Brit, and although my country of residence changes regularly, I've always enjoyed an annual jaunt to Vegas to blow some of my hard-earned money.

Except for the past few years, that is, where travelling to the States has become increasingly less and less enjoyable due to over-zealous and ultimately ineffective border controls.

This year (in 3 weeks' time actually!), I'm going to Macau instead. Not because of currency concerns (far from it!) but simply because, in my opinion, the USA is no longer tourist-friendly. The irony that I feel far more welcome in "Communist China" compared to the "land of the free" isn't lost on me.

What's that got to do with the value of the dollar? Absolutely nothing, I suspect, but I'm sure there are some parallels to be drawn between the way the rest of the world perceives the USA and the value of the US$.

For my part, I had a long-standing limit order on my USD investments that saw them all automatically cashed in when the $ hit 2:1 against the GBP. Now my investments and cash savings are all sitting in GBP and EUR.

Given that I am neither an importer nor an exporter, nor do I have an interest in the money markets beyond my ability to profit from them, I have to confess that I'm entirely ambivalent towards the current situation (blissfully ignorant, in fact, as to the root causes).

What I do know is that one of my US$ fund managers contacted me over a year ago and told me that in the interests of "ethical investment", they were pulling out of the US investment markets entirely. He took a significant 6 digit amount of my money with him, and I'm a very small fish in that particular ocean.

Perhaps we'll see a turn-around at the next US election.

[simpletom]

i dont think americans have ever been welcoming to tourism, its not a bad thing either makeing it that much harder to get into the country sorts out alot of immigration problems.

in the uk they welcome anyone, your even more welcome if you will work for penuts and dont mind working insane hours all year around basically doing the jobs that noone wants to do.

its actually getting to the point that if your british without a degree its getting increaseingly hard to find work, as there are so many polish and other nationalities working in england for far less than whats the min wage for brit citizens. Its about double even triple what they earn in their own countries so i cant blame them for it, but the problem still remains that its increaseing the amount of unimployment for british people fresh out of school, the pressure to get a degree is mounting up, and whats going to happen is everyone will come out of school and go to uni for a degree makeing them alot less worth while, or those very nice jobs that require degrees are harder to get because of the competion.

[Xzin]

So, you are upset because somebody else is willing to do "your" job cheaper?

[Hippieman]

That's nothing, it has fallen to about 30% of it's value compared to NOK, and Euroes have fallen to about 65% of it's original value.

Step one of operation "Norwegianise the world" is complete!

[Taipan]

France's youth is struggling in a similar matter, especially the ones coming out of universities with so-called master degrees in "Litterature and Social Sciences".

The sad truth is that most didn't do a basic research about job market opportunities for their future degrees.

If they HAD, they would have found out that there's about a 1,000 job openings MAX per year in France for their degree in sociology, history and so on.

But the French U. are producing about 50,000 graduates a year in those fields (note: French U. are almost free for their students, about 200 USD tuition per year).
Which results into, surprise surprise..., massive unemployement among those graduates who cry "I deserve a job !".
And is the reason why those French U. are now nicknamed "jobless factories".

Getting a Master degree in a useless field, job market wise, is a true shame and costs tax-payers massive amounts (remember the tuition is almost free because the whole U. system is financed by the State, ie. by us tax-payers).

And that really p... me off for sure.

While we can't find qualified employees in environmental friendly energy technologies which are truly booming.

It's a bit more complex than one would expect but nothing like a master degree.

To install solar panels on a roof, you need an employee trained and certified in :
- electrical installation
- plumbery (ie. copper pipes and connections for the fluid)
- work on roofs (for safety and legal reasons).
Same goes for Heat Pumps, Wind Mills, etc.

Any youth choosing that path is ensured to get a job ASAP.

But it's so unsexy, isn't it ?

So they rather waste 4 years of their life to get a master degree in English Litterature and end up with a MacJob.

Grrrr....

/salute

PS : I blame Xzin for creating this trolling run 8)

[Fizzler]

Very interesting topic I am glad to see it has remained civil anytime I have seen similar topics on other forums it generates into name calling and stereotypical responses. I hope it stays productive.

I live in the US myself but work for a company out of Quebec Canada. The drop in the dollar has affected our sales into the US but we are still seeing good profit margins.

What I did want to comment on was about young adults coming out of college with degree's for jobs that are not available.

I am an engineer for the company I work for on the US side, it amazes me that many of my support folks that provide customer service quotes and over the phone support for tech and sales have Masters degree's in engineering. Heck the fellow I call everyday to ask about customer shipments is a Physicist. He was unable to find work out of college so he joined our company with an entry level admin job hoping a position opens up in our labs for him.

I do disagree that the US is not tourist friendly I believe it is, but I do agree as a road warrior myself that our customs and security checkpoint is completely reactive and not effective. I like to tell my friends just imagine if it was a bra bomber and not a shoe bomber would they have women remove their bras?

Globalization is coming on fast, folks need to keep up or they will get left behind.

[Otlecs]

>I do disagree that the US is not tourist friendly

Once you're in the country, it's wonderful. The service industry is second to none and I thoroughly enjoy the whole experience.

In fact, through contacts, I have an open-ended offer on the table to go and work for a very well known internet operation in CA, and I've often been tempted to accept, although it'll be at least another year before I get bored with my current projects and consider that again.

So my comment isn't about the USA as a tourist destination per sé, but rather an intentional sleight against the border controls.

Britain has been dealing with terrorism for over 30 years (the IRA amongst others), so I understand and fully support the need for border controls. I was actually travelling in Asia when 9/11 kicked off, and hit the USA as a planned part of that trip less than 2 weeks after the event.

But the controls as they currently stand are invasive, disruptive and, yes, ineffective.

I feel like I'm doing something "wrong" every time I enter the country, and I refuse to allow people to make me feel that way any more. Hence my decision to just stop travelling there - for either business or personal reasons - until there's a proper fast-track process in place for people like myself, and my conclusion that it's no longer tourist friendly.

It's of no consolation to know that I feel almost the same when I return home to England (which, thankfully, is only around four times a year at the moment).

Thanks to the Schengen Agreement, I can travel literally anywhere in Europe without any trouble at all. I don't even have to show my passport most of the time.

But as soon as I hit "home territory", which in their wisdom is outside of the Shengen Agreement, I have to go through two separate airport searches and two lots of passport control.

Both of which are also totally ineffective, as witnessed by the fact that the UK remains the number one destination of choice for illegal immigrants from the entire European and African continents.

The jobs and immigration questions are very difficult, and deserve more sensitivity than shown here so far.

I saw my first off-shoring exercise ten years ago, so it's not a new idea by any stretch, and when I saw the effect it had on the workforce (that's real people, with families to support) for the company I worked for at the time, I predicted a huge rise in the nationalism.

Although the curve hasn't been as steep as I perhaps thought it would be, I think it's quite clear that's exactly what's happened.

Personally, I believe companies have a moral and ethical responsibility in addition to their fiduciary duties, and I hold that the two sides are not mutually exclusive. I personally refused to take part in the off-shoring exercise and left the company even though I was in a bullet-proof position.

It's a tremendously complex, sensitive and divisive issue, which deserves a better hearing than my random drivel here, so I won't delve into it much deeper, but the real problem is that local workers often simply cannot compete with foreign workers.

It's just not a level playing field.

If a foreign worker makes his home in the UK, pays UK tax, and is subject to the UK cost of living, that's all fair enough. But that's not what happens most of the time.

Even the technology workers often remain outside of the UK tax system, go there only temporarily, and the money they earn has far, far greater buying power in their country of origin.

Locals just cannot reasonably compete with that.

And the ripple effect of that is extraordinary.

Fred gets put out of work by a foreign worker who's not paying UK tax. Fred starts drawing state support (i.e. goes "on the dole"). He's already a drain on the UK taxpayers instead of a contributor.

He obviously gets far less from the state than he was getting as an employee, so he has less to spend. The government loses out on all the VAT he was previously paying, and if he ultimately loses his home because he can't afford to pay for it, then they have to find housing for him too.

Let's say he used to eat out at a restaurant once a week. That resturant would also be paying business tax. Their income goes down, they pay less tax, the government gets even less money.

If that business ultimately fails, that's another bunch of people "on the dole". Propagate that affect and see what the final impact on the local coffers actually is, and then let's see who the winners are.

Globalisation? Not in our lifetimes. We are SO not prepared :)

[Xzin]

What we are prepared for is $100 oil and $850 gold.

Oh wait....

As a slight aside.... wtf 17.5% VAT tax, on top of already high income tax. Glad I don't live there. Unless somehow Britain is somehow SUCH a more wonderful steward of tax revenue than I have been lead to believe. Which, based on everything I know, isn't anywhere close. I'm looking at you, British social programs and government projects. "Free" healthcare is worth every penny. Right? Oh, we can schedule your serious surgery for oh, 4 months out. You get what you pay for, doubly so for life threatening procedures.

*Also eyes Canada*

[aetherg]

There was a great opinion piece on airline security in the NYT a few days ago; can't find it now though. It really is absolutely useless, would not stop a single terrorist, and simply makes life difficult for Americans and those visiting from abroad. The entire purpose of the border controls is to make it look like the FAA and Homeland Security are doing something with the billions they are given, when in fact there is very little they can do from a domestic standpoint.

[Xzin]

At least that travelers would accept.

Scan incoming luggage? Ok. Shoes, ehhhhh ok. Liquids? Wth? I draw the line at the lithium batteries. Next step, backscatter "nude" x-rays. No thanks. I'll charter my own or hire a driver.

[aetherg]

Many scientists have come out and said that the chances of someone successfully mixing a binary explosive of sufficient strength in an airplane toilet is ridiculously low. It might be easier to arrange for a meteor to hit the plane in mid-flight. But unfortunately it was in the news, and since everything in the news is absolutely accurate, Americans are now afraid of binary explosives. Therefore the government has to do something about this serious threat.

Even backscatter X-Rays (which I'm sure will become standard as soon as the privacy implications have simmered down enough) don't address the problem. There are plenty of things in an airplane cabin (coke cans, broken bottles) that you can turn into a weapon as deadly as a knife.

I wish I could find that article; it pointed out that the box cutters used by the 9/11 hijackers were not particularly effective. The real weapon the terrorists had was the fact that airplane passengers believed, from past hijackings, that compliance was the correct response.

[Taipan]

Airline companies should be careful about bragging about "being the safest way to travel".

It's true from a pure immediate safety perspective.

But let's not forget that, due to an obsolete international law, airlines are still benefitting from tax-free fuel.

That's right....

While you pay around 50% to 80% tax on your car gas, airlines don't pay a dime worldwide.

Though airplanes are the worst ever mean of travel and atmosphere damaging system, based on pollution generated per mile per traveler.

There isn't a single mean of travel as polluting, even Hummers, as an airplane, mpg wise.

Impose fuel taxes on airplane cargos, especially the ones flying from SE Asia to EU and US to carry Intel chips, Samsung phones, Apple Ipods, Nintendo WIIs, and the whole Globalization will look WAY DIFFERENT.

Suddenly hi-tech conglomerates will stop considering outsourcing to SE Asia because the airline fuel penalty would be so harsh.

Airline tax-free fuel : probably one of the biggest scam/ripoff ever....
In the same league as tobacco companies : "smoking doesn't kill, serious..."

You want to keep your jobs in your country ?
Fight for Air Travel CO2 taxes, so they pay as the one you pay for your private car gas...

But forget about travelling to Thailand for USD 500 return, cause real life will catch up on you.

/salute

[Stealthy]

Airline companies should be careful about bragging about "being the safest way to travel".

It's true from a pure immediate safety perspective.

But let's not forget that, due to an obsolete international law, airlines are still benefitting from tax-free fuel.

That's right....

While you pay around 50% to 80% tax on your car gas, airlines don't pay a dime worldwide.

Though airplanes are the worst ever mean of travel and atmosphere damaging system, based on pollution generated per mile per traveler.

There isn't a single mean of travel as polluting, even Hummers, as an airplane, mpg wise.

Impose fuel taxes on airplane cargos, especially the ones flying from SE Asia to EU and US to carry Intel chips, Samsung phones, Apple Ipods, Nintendo WIIs, and the whole Globalization will look WAY DIFFERENT.

Suddenly hi-tech conglomerates will stop considering outsourcing to SE Asia because the airline fuel penalty would be so harsh.

Airline tax-free fuel : probably one of the biggest scam/ripoff ever....
In the same league as tobacco companies : "smoking doesn't kill, serious..."

You want to keep your jobs in your country ?
Fight for Air Travel CO2 taxes, so they pay as the one you pay for your private car gas...

But forget about travelling to Thailand for USD 500 return, cause real life will catch up on you.

/salute

Sorry but this is incorrect - USA and Australia both charge fuel taxes to airlines. In fact in Asutralia, the fuel tax has been increased 6 times since 2004. :(

[Otlecs]

As a slight aside.... wtf 17.5% VAT tax, on top of already high income tax. [...]Unless somehow Britain is somehow SUCH a more wonderful steward of tax revenue than I have been lead to believe

I could write reams about my view of the UK tax system, but I'll spare you that ;)

In short, no, the UK is most certainly not a wonderful steward of tax revenue. The end tax rate is 40% (which is actually ok). VAT is 17.5% (mostly). National Insurance is 12.8%. And if you're "lucky" enough to run your own business, you get to pay the employer's contribution of ~10% as well.

Motor fuel duty is... erm... I don't remember, actually, but it's obscene, especially for a country that doesn't have a public transport system on which one can rely unless you happen to be going to/from London.

As you say, the National Health Service - for the most part - simply cannot be relied upon, so those of us that can afford to end up paying private health insurance as well, for which we get no tax deductions in the UK (though, ironically, here in Germany I do actually get a tax allowance for paying health insurance to a UK company).

I'll curtail my rant there...

>What we are prepared for is $100 oil and $850 gold.

I'm not entirely sure what that relates to, but going to war over resources isn't the same as globalisation :)

What we should by now be prepared for is to not still be dependant on oil and other critical resources that we can't produce ourselves, and you can read "we" as whichever country you reside.

But of course, we're not, and therein lies another good discussion to be had over a few beers / bottles of wine rather than here 8)

[simpletom]

So, you are upset because somebody else is willing to do "your" job cheaper?

how do i respond to this, im not looking to cause arguements or a large scale debate at all, Im putting across some simple issues that alot of people who are working in uk are faceing at the moment.

It doesnt effect me at the moment i work in france, but it does have effect on some members of my family and friends which is what gets me upset.

but in my opinion selling out isnt good for anyone.

[Taipan]

@ Stealthy

I may not be up to date on non-french tax matters and I apologize for that.

What's the actual fuel tax charged by US and AUS on international airlines for passengers and for cargo ?

(not the increase in past years, just current % or absolute figures).


/salute

[Fizzler]

Fixing airline security is simple.

One carry on bag, one checked, everything subject to 100% inspection.

Don't like it? Ship your luggage overnight FedEX or UPS. They do ship globally.

lives of the many > the personal privacy of the one

People will cry, bitch, moan, complain, etc. SO WHAT. Take another mode of transportation. Its a f*cking flight people (short trip!), its not a life changing decision. (like getting married, having kids, buying a house, etc...)

Is this not just about what is done now? Its 2 bags 1 carry on and 1 personal item and they are all subject to 100% check and you must now travel with your bags. The problem is not the checking its the execution of it. Basically the TSA had to fill thousands and thousands of positions in a short period of time. One day you were bagging groceries the next day searching for explosives in a carry on. I am not trying to belittle folks working in the grocery industry I am just trying to make a point about how the folks checking your bags are far from experts.

The process is broken with red tape and fear. If you are going to do it do it right.

One sure way to never have a plan crash into a building, seal up the cabin. The Israeli's do it right, if the passengers are threatened the pilots land the plane.

[aetherg]

Yeah, Israel has been dealing with this for decades longer. Despite the fact that they are a much bigger target for terrorism than the United States (for obvious reasons), they actually have less of an incidence of airline hijackings and terrorism. Passengers are checked by people who really know what they're doing, and the cabins are sealed, pilots are trained in what to do.

The Israeli government has also made it very clear that it doesn't negotiate with terrorists; a threat to blow up a plane does not get a response.

[Killmour]

http://www.ronpaul2008.com/


Get out and vote! :)

[Taipan]

@ Stealthy,

Following up on your answer "Sorry but this is incorrect - USA and Australia both charge fuel taxes to airlines. In fact in Asutralia, the fuel tax has been increased 6 times since 2004", I admit I was a bit puzzled and I thought I should check my point.
So I did a quick google search on "Aviation Fuel and Taxes".

What I found is that :

1. Worldwide airlines are STILL exempted from fuel taxes, based on a 1947 int'l convention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_fuel

2. USA and Australia are actually against a change in that convention (similar logic than on Kyoto ?) while some countries agree to it (but no exemple listed)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_fuel

3. More details about the 1947 Convention.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_on_International_Civil_Aviation

Now Wikipedia can be defective, as we all know, but maybe the fuel taxes you refer to only apply to private/small engine aircrafts (more common in US and AUS than in EU ?) and not to "International Air Travel" ?

In any case, I stand by my initial judgement and I'll admire any one moving away from the current situation :

- Taxing individuals for their use of car gas while exempting airlines and air cargos is both unfair, unbalanced and environmently damaging.
It won't solved the whole pollution mess but it would be a proper step to make.

As one of my teachers used to say "Easy part first, please" 8)

/salute