COLLECTIVEWIZDOM.COM
The Dollar Has Become the World’s
Toilet Paper. How Come No One is
Worried?
Steve Greenfield, Contributor to
CollectiveWizdom.com
Okay. I am not the world’s authority on
anything but my 1966 Mustang. But
there are those moments when the
back of my neck tingles, and I know I’m
picking up a bad signal on something.
Sort of like what those wild animals
must have picked up. You know, the
ones that headed for high ground days
before the Tsunami hit and killed
250,000 people. The scientists were
tiptoeing among the dead bodies when
it hit them that they hadn’t seen any
dead animals among the muddy
bodies of dead humans. Who knew
how those wild animals knew it. But
whatever they felt, they listened to it.
Hard.
Here’s what I’m feeling now. Today, the
dollar, the US greenback, the piece of
paper I work my backside off for an
outrageous amount of hours each
week, is in trouble. I read with alarm
the articles reporting for the past six
years that the dollar has slid way way
down, from the day when the “euro”
debuted in 2000 to today, it went from
a starting line of equality with the euro
to today, when one euro gets you
$1.40. So, the greenback has been in
a race with the euro and now, the euro
is worth 40% more. Not swell.
We're fast running out of countries to
feel superior to. During the week of
October 8, the US dollar fell to 97
cents versus the Canadian dollar. I
traveled to Montreal in June of this
year and the US dollar was worth 1.08
Canadian dollars. Now it’s worth 97
cents. That’s a loss of 11 cents in 4
months. Now,believe me, I love my
Canadian brothers but if I can't make
them feel bad that their summers are
colder than my winters, and my dollar
is bigger than their dollar, then what's
the point of living?
The “experts” in economics react with
a “tut, tut” to all of us ignorant enough
to be concerned. According to
economists quoted in every article I’ve
seen about the decline of the dollar,
none of us should be concerned
because the decline simply means that
the goods produced here at home are
now cheaper to Europeans, about 40%
cheaper in fact. That means European
and other foreigners can now Buy
American. That will translate into our
factories and companies selling more
to the overseas crowd. And that will
mean more income for our employers
who will be able to pay us more
because they will have make more.
The only “losers”, the experts say, will
be those Americans who want to
vacation in Europe. Our dollar won’t go
very far, so we won’t be able to buy as
much French wine or German autos.
Sounds good, right?
But then there’s that feeling at the
back of my neck. Something is very
wrong with this picture.
American buying power, which is what
the greenback represents, is shrinking,
unless the Europeans and other
foreigners buy enough of our cheap
goods (what are we China?) to offset
the value of our in currency. If the
factory I work for sells just a few more
cars to Europe, it won’t make enough
to offset the shrinking buck. Who is
keeping track for the working, middle
class families?
I remember not too long ago hearing
politicians say “a strong dollar is
American policy”. So who is letting this
free fall happen? Who’s in charge?
Think of Zimbabwe. Used to be called
Rhodesia. It’s got a currency that is so
devalued, so worthless, that if
someone pays you at 9:00 in the
morning, by noon, you need another
cash injection just to come out even.
Runaway inflation. As a currency
goes into the Toilet, workers don’t want
to be paid to be paid in that currency.
They want to be paid in some of the
“good stuff”. Would you rather be paid
in a currency that’s stable. Or want
that’s losing value worldwide. See what
I mean.
There’s that nagging feeling at the
back of my neck again.
Comment on this article?
pages@collectivewizdom.com
Toilet Paper. How Come No One is
Worried?
Steve Greenfield, Contributor to
CollectiveWizdom.com
Okay. I am not the world’s authority on
anything but my 1966 Mustang. But
there are those moments when the
back of my neck tingles, and I know I’m
picking up a bad signal on something.
Sort of like what those wild animals
must have picked up. You know, the
ones that headed for high ground days
before the Tsunami hit and killed
250,000 people. The scientists were
tiptoeing among the dead bodies when
it hit them that they hadn’t seen any
dead animals among the muddy
bodies of dead humans. Who knew
how those wild animals knew it. But
whatever they felt, they listened to it.
Hard.
Here’s what I’m feeling now. Today, the
dollar, the US greenback, the piece of
paper I work my backside off for an
outrageous amount of hours each
week, is in trouble. I read with alarm
the articles reporting for the past six
years that the dollar has slid way way
down, from the day when the “euro”
debuted in 2000 to today, it went from
a starting line of equality with the euro
to today, when one euro gets you
$1.40. So, the greenback has been in
a race with the euro and now, the euro
is worth 40% more. Not swell.
We're fast running out of countries to
feel superior to. During the week of
October 8, the US dollar fell to 97
cents versus the Canadian dollar. I
traveled to Montreal in June of this
year and the US dollar was worth 1.08
Canadian dollars. Now it’s worth 97
cents. That’s a loss of 11 cents in 4
months. Now,believe me, I love my
Canadian brothers but if I can't make
them feel bad that their summers are
colder than my winters, and my dollar
is bigger than their dollar, then what's
the point of living?
The “experts” in economics react with
a “tut, tut” to all of us ignorant enough
to be concerned. According to
economists quoted in every article I’ve
seen about the decline of the dollar,
none of us should be concerned
because the decline simply means that
the goods produced here at home are
now cheaper to Europeans, about 40%
cheaper in fact. That means European
and other foreigners can now Buy
American. That will translate into our
factories and companies selling more
to the overseas crowd. And that will
mean more income for our employers
who will be able to pay us more
because they will have make more.
The only “losers”, the experts say, will
be those Americans who want to
vacation in Europe. Our dollar won’t go
very far, so we won’t be able to buy as
much French wine or German autos.
Sounds good, right?
But then there’s that feeling at the
back of my neck. Something is very
wrong with this picture.
American buying power, which is what
the greenback represents, is shrinking,
unless the Europeans and other
foreigners buy enough of our cheap
goods (what are we China?) to offset
the value of our in currency. If the
factory I work for sells just a few more
cars to Europe, it won’t make enough
to offset the shrinking buck. Who is
keeping track for the working, middle
class families?
I remember not too long ago hearing
politicians say “a strong dollar is
American policy”. So who is letting this
free fall happen? Who’s in charge?
Think of Zimbabwe. Used to be called
Rhodesia. It’s got a currency that is so
devalued, so worthless, that if
someone pays you at 9:00 in the
morning, by noon, you need another
cash injection just to come out even.
Runaway inflation. As a currency
goes into the Toilet, workers don’t want
to be paid to be paid in that currency.
They want to be paid in some of the
“good stuff”. Would you rather be paid
in a currency that’s stable. Or want
that’s losing value worldwide. See what
I mean.
There’s that nagging feeling at the
back of my neck again.
Comment on this article?
pages@collectivewizdom.com
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