Why is the dollar value so bad?

[Wayne Luke]

Most people belong to a party because the underlying ideal fits with what they want out of life. There are multiple candidates for each party which get narrowed down in different primaries. However voting party ticket has little to do with local elections. These are the ones that are actually most important in a person's life. Yes, federal and state elections are important but local elections impact your daily life moreso than any other.

Personally, I don't vote party line and am usually registered as an independant. However I want my vote to have more impact in the California Primary this year so I re-registered as a Democrat. Though, I am probably more liberal than most of the candidates in that party as well. I did vote for Schwarzenegger (republican) because I liked his environmental policies. I did vote to recall Davis (democrat) because he was ineffective in his office. However when I voted for Schwarzenegger, I also voted for Jerry Brown (democrat) because I felt he was the only one who would hold the "govenator" to his pledges on the environment.

Though, I have also written about 300 letters this year to Brown, Schwarzenegger, and the California Senators on environmental issues. I have also sent letters to all Republican and Democratic presidential hopefuls asking what their stance is on both the Environment and the Economy. Well emails actually but same concept.

[Andrew Green]

Originally Posted by da420

Fiat money system, central banking (as Truth Elixer said, federal reserve), low interest rates creates a false sense of wealth

Pretty much every country uses a Fiat money system. Not to mention it was working pretty well for the US until recently. Interest rates are low in Canada too, yet our dollar has been climbing.

The US dollar is falling because it imports far more then it exports, and is spending ridiculous amounts of money that it doesn't have to fight a war. The people are doing the same things, spending money they don't have, carrying credit card debt and mortgages they can't afford.

Combine that with a pretty much across the board opinion of the USA from other countries, and as a result them becoming less reliant through looking elsewhere for trade and producing there own goods. (ex. cars, not long ago American cars ruled the streets, now Japanese and German cars do)

Not to mention all the outsourcing to other countries that has been going on to take advantage of cheap labour.

[Reeve of shinra]

Americans used to rise up and overcome the challenges presented to them.
Today, American's use those challenges as an excuse for why they are being held back in life.

[Ronak]

Dollar value has fallen a lot in few weeks....it was record low last week...comparing with my currency INR

[Acers]

Just taking voting turnouts, i wonder a higher voting turnout is necessarily the answer to change though. People don't vote, not necessarily because they don't feel like they want to but more because they feel it won't matter. If turnout increases en-masse it does not mean "the right party" will win. In a true distribution all sides benefit if voting turnout increases. (unless ofcourse one side doesn't vote due to some external factors which should have a bearing even in low turnouts)

Well that and the fact that we've shipped off a ton of jobs elsewhere (China I'm looking at you). We've done it to ourselves that's for damn sure.

Well jobs will go where there are technical skills available for cheaper rates. Its not as if they are going to remain in China forever. They will go where its cheap to get the same work done. I guess the key here would be to move to better jobs and innovate. It ideally should be win-win for all as those who get outsourced jobs benefit, raise their standards and then look for even better ones passing on the jobs they worked on to more people.

Dollar value has fallen a lot in few weeks....it was record low last week...comparing with my currency INR

Yes i guess a lot of webmasters are not too happy esp with adsense earnings now.

[TruthElixirX]

Originally Posted by Wayne Luke

Then if you're over 18 get out and vote in every election. Only by voting can you tell people you're not going to take it anymore. Traditionally the US has low voting turnouts. From as low as 6% in local elections to about 35% in presidential elections. There is no reason not to vote. If you can't get to polls on election day then request and absentee ballot. If you are disabled then request a permanent absentee ballot.

The problem is that people don't affect change in this country and allow an elite few to remain in control.

This.


In a sort of related idea, what do people think of approval rating based voting?

[Brad]

Well jobs will go where there are technical skills available for cheaper rates. Its not as if they are going to remain in China forever. They will go where its cheap to get the same work done. I guess the key here would be to move to better jobs and innovate. It ideally should be win-win for all as those who get outsourced jobs benefit, raise their standards and then look for even better ones passing on the jobs they worked on to more people.

I have no issues with having to compete with the rest of the world for my job, in fact I welcome it because I'll have to work harder. The problem is it costs more to hire me than it costs to hire someone overseas, and I think that is unfair when a company from the USA is doing the hiring...if anything they should pay the guy overseas as much as they would pay someone here.

I don't have a solution to the problem, I just think it is a problem is all.

[AceNZ]

There are several factors driving the value of the dollar lower:

1. Inflation. The more dollars there are in existence, the lower their value will be.
2. Low interest rates. Foreign investors, who hold a lot of dollars, are looking for the best return they can get on their holdings. As US interest rates drop, they sell dollars and buy other currencies with higher interest rates. The dollar falls as a result.
3. Demand for dollars. There's a feedback loop here too: as the dollar falls, or as the impression develops that the dollar is weak, more holders of dollars decide the currency isn't valuable or stable, and they too sell, driving the dollar down even further. (an interesting side note is the side-effects of those sales: more and more assets passing into foreign hands, higher long-term interest rates and more inflation).

The Fed caused these problems, but it's past the point now where it can cure them. They can influence only some aspects of inflation and interest rates -- there are other mechanisms at play (#3 above) that they can't control.

FWIW, I don't think we've seen anything yet. The dollar is crashing, and it's got a long way to go still. I've read some predictions of a 90% decline before it stabilises again. I've moved all of my assets out of the dollar into commodity currencies like the NZ dollar (since I live in NZ), although the AUS or CA dollars would be good too.