What is Digg?Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate
Readers have reported that this story contains information that may not be accurate.379 Comments
- gypsi, on 03/20/2008, -40/+131how's it feel living in a third world dictatorship? it's certainly starting to smell like one.
- MonarchWastxD, on 03/20/2008, -36/+125Is this really a surprise though? I mean come on America, you saw the signs, the warnings... and you did nothing. Nothing.
- theradical, on 03/20/2008, -7/+93What idiot brings American currency with them on vacation to Europe anyway?
- lukasvermeer, on 03/20/2008, -6/+90I once overheard an American tourist in a bar in Amsterdam complaining that she had "no trouble paying in Dollars in other third world countries".
srsly. wtf? - Jawoodyablowme, on 03/20/2008, -10/+85We're just a declining empire. The old farts just haven't noticed or are refusing to face reality. Our power and economy will decline, but the CEO types will get richer and the poor will get poorer. There will be this huge disparity between rich and poor just like a third world....never mind.
- KingGorilla, on 03/20/2008, -4/+79We used to make fun of Canadians for their dollar. Even the simpsons did! Now the tables have turned.
- Scottievm, on 03/20/2008, -17/+75It works great as toilet paper though!
- chris9902, on 03/20/2008, -15/+72Anyone seen the new $100 bill? It's got the Queen's head on and a £50 in the corner.
- ColonelJessup, on 03/20/2008, -12/+66Here we go again with the Digg.com economic professors........................
- ncgmac, on 03/20/2008, -15/+68This story is lame. The dollar is dropping, but the Euro is quite strong. Now when the Peso is worth more than the dollar, that's when people should panic.
- ButchersBoy, on 03/20/2008, -2/+49Don't be naive, our spending and borrowing habits here in the UK are as bad - if not worse - than in the US. The US is our biggest - by a long way - export market. Our banks have also been caught with their hands in the sub-prime till. Less be smug and prepare for the UK to follow the US into recession.
- oreo2123, on 03/20/2008, -20/+64bad form making your title a quote from American Jane Doe...i'm sure she is an authority on the matter.
- HUSTLER101, on 03/20/2008, -8/+51If you don't need them give them to me .
- EBFoxbat, on 03/20/2008, -3/+38It's a good thing the dollar isn't worth anything, other wise I'd be pissed I'm paying so much for gas. As it turns out, this $3.45 a gallon isn't bad since $3.45 isn't worth much!
- zmjone2992, on 03/20/2008, -2/+36$2000 for a taco. ***** me...
- xienze, on 03/20/2008, -4/+35The thing you guys forget about currency exchange rates is that they're not determined by some intrinsic property but by Forex traders. Think of Forex as a stock exchange where the "stocks" are currency pairs (i.e., USDCAD, EURUSD, etc.). Many people involved in Forex are just speculating, and the movements of the past week show that quite nicely. Just before the Fed's 75bp rate cut on Tuesday, EURUSD was ~1.59, USDCAD was ~0.98, and GBPUSD (Pound-to-Dollar) was ~2.04.
As I speak, EURUSD is ~1.54 -- meaning the Dollar appreciated 3% against the Euro. USDCAD is ~1.02, or ~4% appreciation. And GBPUSD is ~1.97, meaning ~3% appreciation. Oh yeah, let's also not forget that the price of gold in dollars has dropped about 10% since Friday (and it's heading even lower).
What changed in the past five days or so? The Fed cut interest rates by less than expected. People bought Euros, Canadian Dollars, Pounds, and even the Swiss Franc (really? The Swiss Franc?) betting that the Fed would cut by 100bp or more (right up until the cut, the market was 100% sure of a 100bp or greater cut). They didn't. Those who bought at the top are holding the bag and selling off because without the 100bp cut the message has been sent that the Fed is starting to slow down their rate cuts, signaling that "perhaps" they're starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The thing you have to realize is that Forex and gold investing is primarily speculative and driven by investor sentiment, not by some God-given properties bestowed upon currencies that make them "stronger", and therefore "better" than others. And you're also insane if you think having an incredibly strong currency is necessarily a good thing -- it is, to a point. If $1 was worth 10 Euros, we'd be in trouble. Right now, the ECB is even considering cutting interest rates because the unprecedented runup in the Euros value is hurting the bottom line of many European businesses. And this is when they're in the midst of some nasty inflation, so rate cutting would make things even worse!
Long story short: things aren't always so cut and dry in currency markets. Currencies fluctuate. The EURUSD will come back to earth as investors start realizing that the party's over. - saigumi, on 03/20/2008, -11/+41BREAKING NEWS: 'Euro Worth Maybe Zero' In St. Louis
I resensationalized the headline. When was the last time you walked into a store in St. Louis and paid in Euros? Do you think anywhere like Best Buy would accept the bill as legal tender? Nope. That means its value is ZERO. Money is only worth what you can get for it.
Oh gnoes, some scammy money lenders won't trade! National News: the dollar is worthless. - JasonCox, on 03/20/2008, -5/+35Yup, now we're just back to making fun of the Canadians for all those other reasons.
- cshipley, on 03/20/2008, -0/+29Aww, gee Monarch.
I tried to get an appointment with the president to try and convince him to to change his foreign and economic policies. I left a message with his secretary, but he never got back to me.
So then I called up Fox news, CNN and MSNBC to tell them that they way the main-stream media was filtering the news to benefit the president and the corporations was hurting the world economy. The voice on the messaging system sounded nice though.
I voted in several elections to try and get someone else making the decisions, but I don't think the Diebold voting machines recorded my vote correctly. I have a call into them too. - inactive, on 03/20/2008, -6/+34WHAT? Where am i going to go for my legal weed and hookers
- inactive, on 03/20/2008, -0/+27I don't care what a peso is worth, the problem is that I'm getting a pay cut every week because my paycheck doesn't go up every time the value of the dollar drops.
- OptimismPrime, on 03/20/2008, -1/+28seriously dude, it's not nearly soft enough for that, and only 1 ply....
- Syntaxis, on 03/20/2008, -3/+29When Bush is on the bills I'm certainly gonna consider that.
- RyomaNagare, on 03/20/2008, -2/+27This is leaking to other poorer countries.
I live in CHILE, primarily commodities export, the problem for exporters is they pay everything in local currency, and get payed in dollars which everyday costs less,
so the government is pressured to try and intervene the prize of the dollar, the problem with that is if they lower the interest tax the inflation goes out of hand, because we import all of our oil and gas and most manufactured goods.
So what happens at the end?, the small guy gets screwed,
I have a friend who used to work for a small software development studio, owned by Vivendi,. We had 8% inflation, so usually at year start all incomes are readjusted to reflect the lower value of money. combine this with the fact that the dollar is 15% less valuable, and as a result, outsourced job positions are 20 to 25% more expensive for US companies.
So people: start consuming, buy a new house, car iPhone whatever, don't get too much in credit, and for god's sake stop expending in an un-winnable war, because if you go to hell you'll take a lot of smaller countries with you.
Then you'll be overflowing with homeless illegals. - mustang460, on 03/20/2008, -3/+27exchange rates don't mean anything here, something is only worth what people wil pay for it, if no one will buy dollars, they are worthless
- pigfister, on 03/20/2008, -22/+45wow now the federal reserve has destroyed the dollar its time to introduce "The Amero"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hiPrsc9g98
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuBo4E77ZXo&feature ... - MAnt, on 03/20/2008, -2/+24I thought there would be more mangoes.
- alittleroy101, on 03/20/2008, -0/+22He was clearly sarcastic, you idiot.
- LeadOffMan, on 03/20/2008, -0/+22"is there anyone left in the race that has good ideas on the economy?! "
no - ambion, on 03/20/2008, -4/+26This is why people use credit cards....
- nick111, on 03/20/2008, -3/+25And that's why they can't pay their mortgages.
- Stonekeeper, on 03/20/2008, -0/+21that's hilarious. It's people like that who feed the stereotype.
- ScottyMcBaggs, on 03/20/2008, -1/+22LMFAO, please don't think we are all that stupid...
- scotsman, on 03/20/2008, -2/+23You mean THANKS A LOT
- geegel, on 03/20/2008, -4/+24This reminds me of an old oriental parable.
Once there was a prince who wanted an artifact which would make him sad when he was happy and happy when he was sad. The wise men from his court gave him a ring on which laid the following words:
THIS TOO SHALL PASS - inactive, on 03/20/2008, -11/+30I wanted to go and smoke weed over there, now the looming economical crisis ruined my plans for my 21st birthday, THANKS ALOT America...
- NJank, on 03/20/2008, -1/+20yeah, that is a misleading title. The article's about how fast the dollar is dropping, not how much it's worth. These small currency outlets make their money on margin. They do short term buys and sells in the different currencies to turn a small profit on the mild differences that come with the ups and downs of the exchange market. With the Dollar steadily declining, they don't get a chance to make good on the margin (even playing both sides) and get stuck with a large inventory of US Currency. Even if the dollar was worth $10000 euro, but it was steadily declining at 1 euro/day, they'd have the same problem. It's not the value of the dollar, but the continued trend that's the problem. In Amsterdam, "they're worth nothing" to the small traders who can't afford to exchange them for you. But anyone else could.
- c0baltfish, on 03/20/2008, -5/+24All he was saying is that the article looks like it was founded just on something an American tourist said. Not enough to make me believe a dollar is worth nothing in a foreign country.
- isaactwito, on 03/20/2008, -6/+24Go choke to death on your own dick. We don't like it either and some of us have been trying to stop it, so ***** you.
- TeacherOfHeroes, on 03/20/2008, -1/+18Oh no, us Canadian folk don't want to be taken on a downward spiral with you - our economy is doing considerably better than yours right now, and I'd like it to stay that way, thank you very much.
- tEhKewleSt, on 03/20/2008, -0/+17Hm...well put argument.
- roodammy44, on 03/20/2008, -4/+20A trade empire.
Learn about how the roman empire worked - lukasvermeer, on 03/20/2008, -1/+17Every city is expensive when you're a tourist and don't know or care where to get a decent bargain.
- macwac, on 03/20/2008, -0/+16The worry for some companies taking contracts in USD is that when project is completed (6 mnths +) the project after conversion to the other country's currency would have dropped their income significantly. Same with employees that are paid in USD, but do not live in the states, their income will be a lot lower; it will hurt both spending power and balance sheets. I found myself having to pin the conversion rate for one contract for the company i work for.
- robotto, on 03/20/2008, -4/+19Amsterdam is expensive
- RyomaNagare, on 03/20/2008, -0/+15The same is happening in my country dollar has lowered its value aroudn 15% since last year. its just your interest tax is too low right now, the fed reserve is trying really hard to avoid the recesion coming
- chuckDontSurf, on 03/20/2008, -1/+15"know it's now "cool" to bash his supporters "
Well, maybe if you guys hadn't spammed digg on a daily basis with RP-related crap, people would be a little more forgiving. - Electric_Sheep, on 03/20/2008, -1/+15FAIL.
- t2k4life, on 03/20/2008, -1/+14Actually, thats going to be the new $200 bill!
- Mortikhi, on 03/20/2008, -6/+18I voted for him, too.
Now watch that digg number go negative heh -
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