by A single Euro is currently worth 1.4728 U.S. Dollars — is it any wonder that some Manhattan stores in New York are accepting Euros as payment for goods and services?
Can the American economy sustain this infusion of foreign currency in the current marketplace?
“We had decided that money is money and we’ll take it and
just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank,” Robert Chu, owner
of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.
The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among
currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with
money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable
exchange rates.
The Mexican Peso — currently worth 0.092495 of the U.S. Dollar — is
also popular along the Southern border of the United States where pizza chains and Wal-Mart and supermarkets accept the Peso as payment.
All along the Northern border of the USA, the Canadian dollar — now
worth 0.9999 of a U.S. Dollar — has always been secretly accepted as
“real” American money and the Loonie even has a wacky charm as shopkeepers in New York gladly accept that heavy coin as payment.
Does the acceptance of the Euro, the Peso and the Loonie in the USA indicate we are truly in a world economy now?
Can we ever turn back that monetary clock?
How long can the strength of the American Dollar last against this foreign invasion from our closest neighbors and our dearest allies?
I think it indicates that people will take payment in anything they deem to be of suitable value if it means bigger profits 😉
I imagine the dollar will strengthen again at some point and some of these transactions will not be worth making.
Here in Stockholm a lot of shops have accepted Euros for some time now, and it’s not because the krona is weak, simply becasue there are a lot of visitors fro other european countries that have adopted the euro and the easier you make it for people to spend money in your shop the more money they will spend.
Simply put: Good business sense.
urbanspaceman —
How is foreign money quantified in the marketplace? Instead of depositing Euros in American banks, it seems many shopkeepers are just keeping them in their pockets for use on European visits.
Is that kind of hoarding good for any economy?
Doesn’t a free market system require the ongoing exchange of identical currency in order to keep the economy surging instead of stagnating?
Why have different monetary systems if there isn’t currency enforcement?
I object to this. If wine sellers buy in dollars and sell in euros and pocket the profit without reinvestment then we’d have no economy if everyone did it.
I think that is a problem, Anne, because the money is not being spent in the community, re-invested in the business, paid out to employees or saved in a bank — it’s being hoarded for purchasing in Europe in your example. That creates a small vacuum of missing money expected in the local chain of a free market economy that can crash a business and bring down a nation town by town if the movement grows.
Is there a law against taking foreign money instead of dollars?
I don’t think it’s illegal, Anne, but businesses then become monetary exchanges as they have to calculate on a daily basis the value of a dollar against what is offered to them in exchange.
Having seen Obama in person now I think I know what it will take to turn around the dollar and make it worth a little more than that on which it is printed 🙂
Hi Gordon!
Tell us more about your Obama moment. Where and when did it happen and how close were you to him?
What is his economic plan?
There are so many Obama moments now that I have enough to write about it several times over so I will do just that G-d willing soon. My most recent one was on Friday when I went to the rally at the Key Arena here in Seattle. I got at the end of a very long line at 10 in the morning and thankfully got in.
I felt really good about things when I heard the numbers for the rallies – Obama’s one rally drew 20,000 people to the Key Arena – an additional 3,000 people were denied entrance but got a spontaneous megaphone powered speech from Obama anyhow – hence why our rally started a little late. Ms. Clinton gave three speeches – two in Seattle, one in Spokane. Her two Seattle rallies drew 5,000 people each – probably with some overlap. Her Spokane rally drew about 700 people. That same night, Michelle Obama gave a speech in Spokane that drew about 1,600 people – that means that more people were interested in the spouse of a candidate than the actual opposing candidate.
The economic plan involves getting rid of tax breaks for those who need it least and cutting taxes for lower and middle class Americans who need it most. Much more to be said in future urb posts by myself – soon – G-d willing! 🙂
Gordon! I love your plan for future articles: Obama now, Obama all the time! 😆
I was thrilled to see he won the Nebraska caucuses. That was a shock to me based on the Hillary machine. I understand caucuses, however, will later become “party primaries” where those caucus votes can be “out voted” by more formal proceedings. That’s how Walter Mondale beat caucuses winner Gary Hart: Mondale’s insider track pushed the primary votes his way instead of Hart’s and Mondale stole all the Hart caucus wins.
I am concerned about Florida and Michigan. Hillary will try to claim them as hers to push back Obama. I hope everyone will see that ploy as a vain attempt to purchase illegal delegates. We’ll see.