Falling Dollar hurting expats worldwide
American expats living in London, Paris, Tokyo, and other countries are getting slammed by the falling dollar. Another expected interest rate cut by the Fed won't help.
If you live in Tokyo, a year ago, one dollar could get you 116-117 yen. It even went above 120 yen back in July. Today, it is about 97-98 yen. A 16% decrease.
In Europe, it was 1.34 to every dollar. Today, it is 1.58. Dollar has lost 16%. If you compare two years ago, the dollar lost about 24%. Five years, the greenback lost almost 33%.
Even in Canada, their dollar has pretty much reached parity. Same goes for the Swiss Franc. Go to Australia, they are almost within parity. Five years ago, you could have fetch about 1.7 AU for every US dollar.
In Amsterdam, small currency outlets are refusing to sell dollars for local money because they cannot afford the buy/sell spreads. Tourists would have to go downtown, to the central station, or post office.
A possible 1-percent cut by the Fed will cause the dollar to fall again, and we may see another record low in the US Dollar Index.
In July 2001, the index hit a high of 119.61. Since then, it has lost about 40 PERCENT!
Comments
Posted by: Duric
Posted on: March 19, 2008 07:49 PM
Let me introduce myself, my name is Kunta Kinte and 0 % reserve is my nomination for the Nobel Prize. Is it the key of my salvation or it is the reason for my starvation, you decide. God bless Plunge Protection Team.