You think that migh have something to do with those ticket prices?
She wasn't referring to the ticket prices, which are about the same, she was referring to the currency (primarily the Euro, though also the pound) against which the dollar has become substantially weaker over the past couple of years. To some degree the currency swing has been a round trip that began in 1998.
The Euro was at around $1.20 shortly after it was introduced in 1998, fell all the way to $0.85 or so in 2000 and again in 2001, then climbed back to its present level of around $1.30. So when I went to Europe six and a half years ago it took $1.20 to get a Euro, now it's $1.30. Not a huge impact if the proper reference point is the Euro's introduction in 1998. Strange, though, how 1998 and 1999 are the only reference points for those who claim we are in a bear market, but when it comes to currency fluctuations, better to use 2000 or 2001, when the Euro briefly weakened, to show that the dollar is bad now. |
