<They never could compete with the rest of the world>
As someone who has travelled to the U.S. frequently over the last thirty years (my better half being from there), I have to disagree with this comment. There was a day when you could recoup what was lost in the exchange rate by buying merchandise at lower prices. NO MORE. This has to matter and be accounted for in the market eventually. Either that, or the law of supply and demand does not apply to the dollar. Come to think of it, maybe the law of supply and demand doesn't apply to the dollar. For all the talk about oversupply in the gold market, this pales in comparison to the growth in fiat money supply in the last few years. But the laws that apparently apply to gold, and everything else as well, can be argued NOT to apply to the dollar. And many times this contradictory argument is made and defended by the same people. Eventually it has to matter that prices are becoming too expensive in the U.S. and that the dollar is too strong. Recall the days, not that long ago, when cross border shopping was a big issue here in Canada. You never hear of it today. They can raise the buying limit, as they have been doing, as high as they want now. Nobody is going to take the loss on the exchange rate and the hit on prices. We still go to the U.S. to visit family, but we no longer shop there. They've priced themselves out of the market. |
