the US dollar is turning into toilet paper

[emon87]

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The vast majority of Americans have seen a decline in their "real income" (measured in cost of living) since around 1970.

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Surely this is false. The majority of Americans didn't even have incomes in 1970. (Google says the US median age is 35, so most Americans weren't even alive in 1970.) Of those that were working then and are still working now, 37 years of experience probably raised most of their wages quite a bit.

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WTF?

[swingdoc]

Federal interest rates are by far the most important factor in determining what the value of the dollar is. Obviously lots of factors go into determining whether to raise or lower the fed rate. An amazing intro to these ideas and forex trading (where you can actually cover possible losses by the dollar going down) I'd recommend checking out Baby Pips

[bobman0330]

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The vast majority of Americans have seen a decline in their "real income" (measured in cost of living) since around 1970.

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Surely this is false. The majority of Americans didn't even have incomes in 1970. (Google says the US median age is 35, so most Americans weren't even alive in 1970.) Of those that were working then and are still working now, 37 years of experience probably raised most of their wages quite a bit.

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WTF?

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I'm not trying to be nitty, but I thought that quote was seriously misleading. There aren't tens millions of people seeing a decline in their real income. The vast majority of Americans see a steady increase in their real income.

What he's saying is that you can construct similar subsets of the population now and then, each comprising a vast majority of the population, and that for certain degrees of vast majority-ness (though not 100%) the later one will have a lower average income. That's not an irrelevant fact, but it is a different one.

[BearHustler]

For a European poker player, the dollar decline sucks bad because almost all my online accounts use USD as currency.

Everytime the USD drops 0.01€, I lose $10 for every $1000 I have online.

[Jeffmet3]

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The vast majority of Americans have seen a decline in their "real income" (measured in cost of living) since around 1970.

[/ QUOTE ]

Surely this is false. The majority of Americans didn't even have incomes in 1970. (Google says the US median age is 35, so most Americans weren't even alive in 1970.) Of those that were working then and are still working now, 37 years of experience probably raised most of their wages quite a bit.

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WTF?

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I'm not trying to be nitty, but I thought that quote was seriously misleading. There aren't tens millions of people seeing a decline in their real income. The vast majority of Americans see a steady increase in their real income.

What he's saying is that you can construct similar subsets of the population now and then, each comprising a vast majority of the population, and that for certain degrees of vast majority-ness (though not 100%) the later one will have a lower average income. That's not an irrelevant fact, but it is a different one.

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it's not the vast majority.

if you manipulate the statistics, you can make it look pretty damning though.

yes, the blue-collar factory workers of America have not seen their salaries grow.

but, that's due to the fact that someone in another country can do the same job (granted, probably a little worse) at a much cheaper rate.

America has shifted to a service economy.

[Sciolist]

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For a European poker player, the dollar decline sucks bad because almost all my online accounts use USD as currency.

Everytime the USD drops 0.01€, I lose $10 for every $1000 I have online.

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The way I understood it, a large part of the reason for the USD dropping in value vs. Euro/GBP is due to the enormous levels of debt the US Govt is running up.

That means you can cut taxes but you are sacrificing future economic growth for current growth. Therefore, I am blaming George Bush.

Incidentally, I went on bankroll tilt when the dollar dropped a lot in Dec. I had a bad day, lost ten buyins, took a week off. In that week, the dollar fell so much that it cost me the equivalent of two buyins. I then cashed my entire roll out and started again. Well done me, guess I need to remind myself about opportunity cost...

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

"also, how is investing in indonesia and malaysia hedging against the dollar?"

my understanding is that these index funds are a composite of different shares of foreign companies, thus these shares are bought in foreign currency , so if the dollar goes down they should go up. does that make any sense?

[Matt Flynn]

this was unsettling when i visited Costa Rica. the rest of the world being more expensive is kind of like living in a house that's lost value. sucks from a micro perspective.

[Sciolist]

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this was unsettling when i visited Costa Rica. the rest of the world being more expensive is kind of like living in a house that's lost value. sucks from a micro perspective.

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I'd like to say it's good from a British perspective, but it's not like I'm redepositting to poker sites all the time. Anyone have any suggestions of how I should take advantage of this, asides from going to the US on holiday?

[spider]

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Everything I read and hear pretty much says that dollar will definitely continue to decline

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The latest issue of the Economist (Big Mac Index) suggests that the USD is undervalued against other rich countries except Japan. I think there is general consensus that the long term trend is for the emerging market currencies to appreciate against the dollar. FWIW, as my last name is not Soros.

Here's the link, but probably requires a subscription:
Economist Big Mac Index