Economy: The Shrinking Dollar And Gisele Bundchen

The Canadian dollar (loonie) is now worth more than the U.S. dollar, Raw Story reports.

The loonie broke through the US$1.10 barrier in overseas trading Wednesday, initially hitting the 110.02 cents US mark. It dropped back down to 109.6 cents US, before taking off again and landing well above US$1.10. This comes on the heels of Tuesday's rise of 1.34 cents US and modern-era record close of 108.52 cents US.

Meanwhile, the British pound has risen to a record against the dollar, according to the Guardian.

The pound climbed to $2.10 for the first time since 1981 this morning, boosted by speculation that China was preparing to shift its foreign reserves out of dollars.

By 10.30am, one pound was worth $2.1053.

[...]

The slowdown in the American economy, the sub-prime mortgage crisis and the ongoing credit crunch have all combined to weaken the US economy. Back in January, one pound was worth around $1.96.

The dollar also fell against the euro, to an all-time low of 1.4703.

Seven countries are abandoning the dollar, including our good friend Saudi Arabia. Can't blame them, really. We'd dump them in a New York minute if their currency tailspin was dragging ours down. The falling of the dollar can be attributed in part to China's preparing to dump the U.S. dollar. Apparently, they're tired of carrying our debt. If we won't even work with our own people to prevent foreclosure after strongarming them into dubious loan schemes, does that mean it's OK if China won't work with us to help fix our financial problems?

And finally, to add insult to injury, supermodel Gisele Bundchen joins Warren Buffet and Bill Gross in demanding to be paid in Euros instead of U.S. dollars.

To make matters worse, sixty per cent of consumers believe a recession is in the offing, says Reuters. They base this figure on a poll conducted by America's Research Group.

And why not? GM just announced $39 billion in losses; Time-Warner announced a 53 per cent drop in profits for the third quarter; Bloomberg states that speculation is rife in the markets about U.S. banks being forced to write down more subprime assets; and oil prices just broke the $100 barrier.

Happy holidays, everyone! Pass me the dog food.*

*From Frank Zappa, Green Hotel

PS: Let's impeach the sons-of-whores in the Misadministration before we're reduced to selling apples out of barrows, goddammit.

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