Posted on 12/02/2007 4:53:00 AM PST by Zakeet
It’s a commodity and like all commodities it will rise and fall based on a variety of world wide factors.
There is one thing I feel comfortable saying though and that is that for the foreseeable future the dollar will be the currency of last resort if and when the sh*t truly hits the fan.
Bush has been beset with a lot of economic challenges not of his own making, like the recession he inherited, the corporate accounting scandal perpetrated on the Clinton watch, 911, the war, high oil prices, Florida hurricanes, and then Katrina, and drought. He’s also had the subprime mess to deal with, and the credit squeeze.
Despite all this, he inherited a bad economy, made it into a good economy, and has kept it going. One of the main reasons his policy has worked is that he’s let the markets do the heavy lifting. He’s resisted the Dem-preferred approach to manipulate oil prices, and run the economy by bureaucratic fiat. The markets have made the necessary adjustments, and that has kept us out of recession.
Although I couldn’t find a lot of hard data, HP and Dell probably assemble desktops in America. But laptops are almost certainly assembled overseas from overseas parts except for the leading edge CPU’s.
it’s called a “cycle”
isn’t it surprising every time we’re reminded that US is #1 manufacturer in the world?http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2007/09/the-state-of-ma.html
There's a lot of folks on the right side of the aisle that are under the Socialist umbrella, too. GWB and his Socialist prescription drug give-a-way, and the Congresscritters who supported it, are prime examples.... but there are many, many more.
Bush’s record on the economy would have been a lot better if he dealt with out of control spending instead of contributing more to it.
It all depends on wether a conservative (fact driven) or liberal (agenda driven) is describing it.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/g5a/current/
THE AVERAGE RATES OF EXCHANGE IN 2006 TOGETHER
WITH COMPARABLE FIGURES FOR OTHER YEARS.
MAJOR AVERAGE CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE
MAR 1973 = 100
2006 82.46
2005 83.71
2004 85.37
2003 92.99
Clearly lower than 1973 but hardly ‘collapsed”
I have never believed that making things is inherently better -- inherently more likely to produce widespread prosperity, inherently more noble, inherently more meaningful -- than is the supplying of services. And until I notice a widespread pattern of parents hoping that their children grow up to become factory workers rather than to become doctors, lawyers, and bank presidents, I'll continue to believe that, whether they know it or not, most Americans value jobs in the service sector pretty darn highly.
Do YOU believe that every child in the U.S. has the intelligence to be "doctors, lawyers, and bank presidents,"? Is there enought employment available in those fields to employ all the children of today?
I also notice he doesn't mention engineers or scientists. Is that because he's super-capitalist elite?
you didn’t bother to read the meat of the article once you started after the red flag. Since there are certainly different types of intelligence, remember plumbers, roofers and all sorts of different contractors are also part of the service economy.
“Which “U.S. goods?”
Big Mac’s?
Seriously.”
I agree.....
Where do we get our oil and our cars and our.....
Am I a doomer for being real....
Does anyone see the Inflationary Spiral at the doorstep???
Really? Tell me why. My step-son in law is a computer whiz who ran his college's computer department. He graduated last January and was bombarded with job offers. His specialty is tech design (whatever that is). He recently interviewed for a job with firm in my old hometown and was hired the same day. I know zilch about computers, but he thinks Dell computers are very good.
I apologize, the top line of your reply was scrolled up too far when I composed my answer, you did read the whole thing. Since the question about wages isn’t comparing years what would it adjust inflation to?
I have traveled to many countries. I have noticed a decline in American influence. Japan’s influence is very apparent everywhere, but not US, other than the ubiquitous dollar. Even that is being threatened by the euro.
I don't know. I do know that blue collar wages haven't kept up with inflation. It's a neat trick these guys use to make us think that we are actually paying less for goods now than we did years ago - until you factor in wages NOT having kept up with inflation.
Just because the price of an LCD tv goes down doesn't mean everyone can afford it.
The CPI should be limted to consumables and forget the tv's and iPods, et al. I am not sure but I don't think college tuition is included in the CPI. Imagine what the CPI would be if it only included food, energy and the things we need to live.
I am aware of that. It almost seems the goal of the neo-nobles of the U.S. want those outside of their class to compete with each other till they basically get their services free.
With a large manufacturing base we can be assured that children who can't become doctors, lawyers, plumbers, electricians, etc. have a place to work and raise a family. Not to mention, should there be another world war, have a place to tool our defenses.
EADS's Airbus plans radical measures to respond to strong euro - FORBES 11.22.07
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - EADS's Airbus unit plans radical measures to respond to the weakness of the US dollar, chief executive Thomas Enders told a workers council today in Hamburg, the website of Der Spiegel reported, citing attendees of the meeting.
Enders said the decline of the dollar has passed the 'pain barrier'.
'That is life-threatening,' Enders was quoted as saying.
He said Airbus is expecting 'massive losses' due to the weak dollar.
Airbus's current restructuring program 'Power 8' is based on a rate of 1.35 usd per euro.
The euro traded at 1.48 usd in London noon trade today.
Airbus said in late September that the company needs to find an additional one billion euro in savings if the euro stands at 1.45 dollar to achieve the 'Power 8' target of 2 bln eur savings per year by 2010.
Enders said the European plane maker will decide over the coming weeks which cost -cutting measures will be taken.
'We need to question our business model. It is no longer sustainable,' he said, according to the report.
He also said Airbus will increasingly consider outsourcing production.
Airbus's parent company EADS on Nov 8 posted a third-quarter loss of 776 mln eur, widening from a loss of 189 mln a year earlier.
The strong remarks from Enders come three days after EADS's chief executive Louis Gallois said in an interview with the Financial Times that the weak dollar is a 'sword of Damocles hanging over our heads' and said it is his main concern for the future.
Gallois said EADS's corporate strategy 'Vision 2020' targets US acquisitions to reduce the company's exposure to the weak dollar.
Enders himself said in mid-October that Airbus will not rush into more cost-cutting measures in light of the weak dollar.
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