pudge's Journal: USD

The dollar keeps dropping. Some of this is due more to perception than fact, although the perceptions are based on fact. For example, we have a high trade deficit, which right now has no major negative influence on our economy, but someday probably will. Same thing with the ever-increasing debt. Not to mention our massive unfunded liabilities in Social Security and Medicare. And investors feel that these are more important than our low unemployment and healthy GDP.

That's fine, I am not complaining. Regardless of the reasons why the dollar is dropping, though, people get upset about it. But they shouldn't. When the dollar is high, there are ways to be hurt by it, and ways to profit from it. Same thing when the dollar is low. Most of us shouldn't care whether it is high or low, we should just be ready to react to it.

So, I have some of my investments in European companies: even if they don't do quite as well as U.S. companies, they could still get greater profits because of the much healthier Euro. You could invest directly in the Euro. You could invest in American companies that have big overseas business.

It's not all about investing, either. You can buy American, as American goods become relatively less expensive. You could travel in the U.S. instead of abroad.

Like the climate, the only thing constant about economies is change. Don't panic. Adjust.

BTW, the Canadian dollar is supposedly closing in on the U.S. dollar. If it passes us, I say, just annex the whole "country." British Columbia can be North Washington. Yukon, South Alaska. Quebec, North New England. Manitoba: North North Dakota.

I'm not sure if you're making them separate states

[NeMon'ess]

But even if not, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota will all generally go to the Democrats. I'd agree with the idea either way.

Re:I'm not sure if you're making them separate sta

[pudge]

But even if not, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota will all generally go to the Democrats.

Since when? In the last four Presidential elections, only one of those states went Democrat, and did so only once.

Re:

[NeMon'ess]

Manitoba either gets to be it's own state, or it joins with the state of North Dakota, or it gets a name change and becomes politically impotent like Puerto Rico.

We annexed Hawaii and made it a state. Puerto Ricans haven't voted strongly enough for statehood to make an impact, but I'm 95% sure Manitobans are going to want statehood. If it's only a territory under your plan, I'll start working instead for the West and North-Eastern states to join with Canada as a separate country.

Re:

[pudge]

Manitoba either gets to be it's own state, or it joins with the state of North Dakota, or it gets a name change and becomes politically impotent like Puerto Rico.

And Manitoba is pretty conservative and likely would vote Republican too, just like North Dakota.

Re:

[NeMon'ess]

By Canadian politics yes.

Re:

[pudge]

By Canadian politics yes.

People say that, but it's largely B.S. Granted, the GOP in DC of the last few years would not be very attractive to Canadian conservatives, but neither was it very attractive to American conservatives: that's why Republicans stayed home in record numbers in 2006. I've known quite a few Canadian conservatives, and they aren't very different from their American counterparts, no moreso than the diversity already strongly represented in the GOP.

Buying American

[cascadefx]

It's increasingly difficult to do so. More and more things are primarily coming from outside the country. I remember when Walmart was first hitting it big. My uncles, big "Buy American," guys were very pro Walmart because many of the goods came from US manufacturers. I remember when it used to be a branding thing with Walmart itself.

Now one of my uncles owns a Tshirt that says "American Pride" on the front and has a "made in China" tag. He gets the irony and no longer shops there as most of the goods d

Re:

[pudge]

It's increasingly difficult to do so. More and more things are primarily coming from outside the country.

I think you're missing my point, a little. I am not saying to seek out American goods to buy. I am saying, American goods will become relatively cheaper (and, more plentiful, if the trend holds long enough to allow for such a transition), and therefore offer a cheaper alternative to various foreign goods that are increasing in price.

Re:

[cascadefx]

I see your point, but what sort of time frame of a weak dollar do think it would take to move manufacturing jobs (in order to create American made goods) back to the US?

As it stands a heck of a lot of "essential" industries have been decimated. Textiles, fabrication, electronics, etc. are weak at best.

Also doesn't the weak dollar make it difficult to pay employees to do those jobs? Are we running into a chicken and egg problem?

I mean this in a completely non-rhetorical way. I don't know, but it seems lik

Re:

[pudge]

I see your point, but what sort of time frame of a weak dollar do think it would take to move manufacturing jobs (in order to create American made goods) back to the US?

It doesn't necessarily matter, for investing purposes, if you're looking long-term. But again, we do make a lot of goods here in the U.S., so there are consumer opportunities right away. (Ever watch Made in America on the Travel channel, with John Ratzenberger? I love that show, and not even mostly for the U.S.-centered theme.)

Look at Wal-Mart again. Right now it buys most of its goods from overseas. But what happens if it becomes cheaper to buy American? It looks for the preexisting American bargain