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...and the people who fret about that will be the EXACT SAME FOLKS who complain about our trade defecit!!!
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Joe Baker, who thinks people worry about a lotta silly stuff.

If it wasn't for the 25% sales tax in Iceland, I would have bought a lot of stuff on ebay these last few months...

I can appreciate the sense in worrying about one or the other, but not both. The devalued dollar means Americans will buy more American made products (agreed that it won't much affect our buying from Asia) and will cause more people from elsewhere in the world to buy FROM US (as Bloke describes). A more valuable dollar INCREASES the trade defecit, as Americans use their valuable dollars to snap up bargains. The value of the dollar and the trade defecit will tend to move in the same direction. The devalued dollar is generally better for the average working stiff because it increases demand for American goods, while the inflated dollar is generally better for folks with lots of cash to spend.

Besides, Bill, weren't you MORE worried that the Chinese would decouple the Yuan from the US$?
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Joe Baker, who remains relatively unconcerned, but who won't be buying goods from Europe any time soon.

bloke wrote:boy, that's a ton o' tax...' keeps you in a lot of hot water, I'd imagine...

Yup, hot water and taxes are the two things that are abundant in Iceland.

wnazzaro wrote:

Joe Baker wrote:Besides, Bill, weren't you MORE worried that the Chinese would decouple the Yuan from the US$?

I don't recall ever arguing that position.

Hmm. Sorry, must've been someone else. That's old age for you!
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Joe Baker, who experiences this more and more... um... what was I sayin'?

bloke wrote:...possibly the guzitarian??

I did mention it, but not with any particular sense of dread. Like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and others, I simply see it as an incentive to alter my investment strategy...

However, the floating of the remninbi against a "basket" (which will certainly include the Euro) as is being proposed by the Bank of China will make for a potent inflationary force against the dollar...

See how the almighty greenback is doing.

wnazzaro wrote:I'm looking for some good 1970s-1980s inflation. Need to melt my debt away.

Sure hope that it's all fixed-rate stuff and not credit card or ARM-type.