It's just that many ETers realize, it's not really "bags of money" it's just a market propped up by inflation. They are not buying the governments 2% quarterly (8% annual ) inflation figures that omit energy and food. They are annoyed that a Euro has 40 cents more buying power in the US than a dollar does. They don't like being jerked around by the Fed and Treasury. They are not stupid; and they are not naive.
after reading all this, i have a guess that a number of Arab countries are about to de-peg their currencies from the USD ..... something oil/gold are saying (to me anyway) that the current pegs are not sustainable..... I just wonder if this comes to pass before of after the next rate cut......as other UDS surplus countries are not going to sit a watch their dollar holdings crater
you`re right,they know exactly what they are doing........& it`s not in the best interest of the american people. a private corporation will always act in it`s own best interest.
Successful traders have substantial assets outside of their trading accounts. I have been fortunate that all of my non-trading assets are in Canadian dollars, but I know that I would be fuming if I was a US based trader with 100% USD assets. Most here can see through the fed rhetoric and the picture isn't pretty for the responsible US investor. Thinking that the dollar can continue to slide and inflation will stay steady is a long-term impossibility in a global market.
this is the reality of the matter...plain & simple.if our founding fathers of this once great country could see the way the people were being sodomized & their constitutional rights stripped,they`d be rolling in their graves.......nice post gnome! damn good thread....
Quote from Hydroblunt: I don't know why you're being so dense for someone quite intelligent but then intelligence and closemindness often go hand in hand. Actually my ability to see an issue from multiple viewpoints exceeds my intelligence although my 141 is probably in scope of many on ET. Like I said, Consumerism is not even 100 years old while the phenomenon we observe with the dollar is something that has happened through history many times over hundreds of years. Basic math may be a bit confusing but basic logic should appeal here. Why do you limit the confines of "consumerism"? Currencies were constructed to facilitate TRADE. A convenience beyond barter. The more currency one "collects" the greater access he has to goods and services. The amount of goods and services available fluctuate in price. Hence free markets. International trade is no different. Whereas a generation ago a unit of American currency bought 100 units of third-world labor, today it purchases significantly less. The market was imbalanced. In the global marketplace there was nothing intrinsically better about a 20k a year Detroit auto worker than a 5k a year Japanese worker. Americans bought the better car and the "spread" between a Ford worker and a Toyota worker narrowed. As we consume increased goods from abroad, be it shoes made in China or oil drilled in Canada, we cheapen our currency. As we consume more government than we care to pay for and in turn borrow the money, we cheapen our currency. As a new political foothold takes place in America-one that advocates GREATER spending by government-the currency is cheapened. To think the market is singling out America is a mistake. It's not that the Euro or Cable are holding their own against emerging markets either. We certainly know the Yen story. Japan's appetite for government exceeds their export prowess (which is threatened by cheaper Asian competitors). You think with the narrowness of an American. NO CURRENCY IN THE WORLD has the purchasing power it had a generation ago! Some of the stuff you say is just so ridiculous. No, let's all uphold the dollar by volunteering even lower wages and making an agreement to hold hands and push down prices. Why don't you go first, go appeal to my landlord and the food store owners. And then let's send some money to the Chinese laborers to push their wages up. It is what it is. The Chinese laborer is gaining on you. What do you want to hear? That you're sacrosanct and by birthright you should make and consume 10x what a similar skilled person makes in New Delhi or Sarajevo? Are you ignorant to the MASSIVE market forces that are arbing out those inequities? Do you think Nancy Pelosi will stem the tide? Get a clue. The guy who builds your television will be buying your sofware and drive the same car. You seemingly advocate protectionism of wages. Quaint. Good luck with that.
Here is an idea, since you think you are so f**king smart and can see the issue from different viewpoints (a notion I have to laugh at). Why don't you do some research on Consumerism, so that you know what I mean when I mention it, especially in the context of Western society. Maybe then you will understand why I say it is not even 100 years old, even though all living things consume in some extent. I'm not advocating wage protectionism directly, as it will not work. Also, I do not make the silly assumptions that the masses all want to become rich and want absurd wages, no, most just want a reasonable & sustainable standard of living, which is more than attainable if not for corporate greed. But forget that discussion, since it brings out much emotion and clouds logic. Let's look at it strategically. Do you like Strategy, be it games or whatever? Tell me, how smart is it to destroy your manufacturing base? Do you think that works well in strategy of staying a world superpower? How about on the domestic front, do you think it's wise to destroy blue collar skilled labor? Sure, we can cover it up by financial services & low-end services, but come on, it's not sustainable and it's mostly a facade that all the other world powers see through. Finance sector & service sector suffer the most in recession, so where is the support for it when that happens? Hmmm. So what's the real goal here? Who is really benefitting? The Chinese laborer working like a slave for peanuts because living off the land has been made impossible or the Average Joe Consumer getting short fleeting moments of happiness with electronic toys bought on credit (which only grows and grows)? Or the nation that can't even make its own products anymore?