Money's Worth

posted on April 13th, 2010, 4:23 am

I was standing behind the bar yesterday around noon, pretending to work while absently watching the a baseball game on one of the TV's.  We'd just opened and the place was deserted, save for whom I suspect to be an old drunk, and another couple that had wandered in and gone out onto the patio.  These two guys come in from the side entrance, which is connected to the hotel lobby, taking a table near the pool table, where they strike up a game.  They order a few drinks and an appetizer from the server, until eventually one of them wanders up to the bar:
   
"Hi, we're out of Canadian money, so do you accept US dollars?"  He asked.  It was Sunday so the banks and some of the money exchange places would be closed.
    "Of course."  I replied.
    "Awesome.  What's the exchange rate here?"  He asked, fishing for his wallet.  There was a reminder posted near the register, but I didn't have to check.
    "Even."  I replied yet again.  I kept a straight face, but I wanted to smile when I saw the face he made.

    Within the last couple of weeks, especially this close to both the airport and border, I've noticed a ridiculously increased amount of US coins in my change.  I think that's funny.
    How's the economy treating everybody else, especially around the world?  If you see any of those Canadian bastards gawking at your landmarks, remember that their money is worth more now, and that they'll almost always give you a tip (gratuité) when you give them directions, even if those directions happen to be an uneducated guess, and I end up on a train, halfway to bloody......

Attachments

posted on April 13th, 2010, 5:12 am

Yup!

  Canadian coins have been the bane of US laundromats for decades now .  They don't work and just get stuck in the machines.


  Our currency being depreciated a bit is not actually a bad thing.  The US is one of the leading exporters of machinery and complex tools in the world (behind Germany) and since China has completely gobbled up the "lesser" manufacturing industry, the US can do with a little dofter currency to boost our exports.

  China does not let their currency "float" along with the world market.  They control the value of it in order to make sure they control the exporting of cheap consumer goods market.  The US used to have that market but the standard of living in the US (like in all post-industrialized nations) has reached a point where those jobs are no longer in demand here.  China is willing to subject it's people to harsh onditions, bad hours, and low pay to keep that place in the world market.  They do not allow unions like the United States does so they can easily keep that place for themselves.

Eventually what will happen is China's people will no longer tolerate such working conditions.  It may take a generation of 10 or 20 years but eventually China will be forced to deal with an emerging middle class that does not want their children to be working in textile factories or Barbie Doll assembly lines.  They will face the same problems that the US, Germany, Britain, and all other industrialized nations have faced with the emergence of a middle class.  And their's will be even harder because their nation still pretends that classes do not exist.  Closing your eyes and not believing in cancer does not mean you are immune to it .



  Sigh ... so what that means for the sad little US is this:  We need to be very careful not to dig ourselves deeper into the influence of China itself.  I warn this to all of you other Western Nations out there waiting for the US to get it's comeuppance from CHina:  we have stood for the same values as most of you since the end of WWII (almost 70 years now), and while sometimes we don't always do the best job, China works on an entirely different set of cultural and political principles than we do.  They are a young power and like a teenager can very easily start to throw economic weight around.  The Europeans and the such should be well aware that in the global economy, they are just as vulnerable to Chinese economic muscle-flexing as the United States is.

  Just a thought .

posted on April 13th, 2010, 5:39 am

I was actually reading in the paper that China was going to stop doing that (purposefully devaluing their currency), of course I'll believe it when I see it.

Speaking of money, how are other countries in the European Union feeling about bailing out Greece?  I've only been glancing at the headlines.  I kind of wanted to know how the "man on the street" over in Europe felt about it. 

posted on April 13th, 2010, 5:43 am

I'm kind of curious about that myself.  This is one of the biggest tests of the EU's unity resolve that you've all had so far .


    I'm especially curious to know what the Germans think.  You guys are the biggest economy in Europe and carry a lot of the burden.  How do you feel about it?

posted on April 13th, 2010, 6:34 am

I feel that its not ok to give money to a country where the ppl spend more than they can earn. And the corruption of course. On the other hand...if the EU is weakened this is our problem too. But in case of Germany...actually we take a benefit out of a weak €...because we are export nation number 2 (behind china).

posted on April 13th, 2010, 8:36 am

Well...

I live in Spain, which, for the non-euros around here, is candidate number two for being either bailed out or kicked from the Euro zone.

With an unemployment level redlining at 20% and being unemployed myself for over three years now, things don't look so good.

Specially, because the party in opposition keeps throwing sticks in the wheels, and have managed to make the government to self doubt any policy they tried to implement. And they've gone from "not very good" ideas to "definitely bad" ones to fix the problems we face. We'd need a united politcs front, but the opposition takes any cheap shot at the party in power and that's preventing the economic sectors of regaining the confidence in our system that we desperately need to fix things.

posted on April 13th, 2010, 9:11 am

Well, the Thing with Greece somehow reminds me of the story of the grasshoppers and the ants...
And I am not to fond of the Idea...

[Optec]

posted on April 13th, 2010, 9:58 am

Last edited by Optec on April 13th, 2010, 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

The Greece crisis is indeed a problem for the EU and the Euro. Sadly, all ways to solve that problem are disasters. They could try to reduce costs and increase taxes, but at the level they would need to get to, just to get on 0/0 (without any profit for the country) they would be at tax levels that would probably lead to a civil war. On the other hand, the EU nations are not allowed to give financial support to Greece, and, at least in my (German) opinion, that would just destabilze the EU market, as it would support speculation even more. The third option would be for Greece to quit the Euro, return to the Drachma, and downgrade it. Sadly, that would greatly cripple their in-export capacity with great impact on their economy. Three quite bad ways.

So far the Euro was a rather stable currency, and i favor it over our old Mark. Till now, I don't feel much impact on the crisis here in Germany. The unemployment rates are a bit higher, but its to discuss if they wouldn't have increased either way, due to our structural economy changes. And Daimler and similar companies struggeling is their own fault. They are completely missing the 21st century. Other economies, like the electronic-gaming sector for example managed to get growth rates of between 8 and 14% (thats at least what i got from Crytek). On the other hand, electronic-gaming is not a big business sector over here in Germany. I think we just have to adapt to the information age and adjust our economy accordingly. We are no longer an industry nation, there are much better candidates for that. We missed a goot part of the age of technology, now lets at least try to get a hold in the information age. I dont even want to think of what comes after. The biotech economy is already growing, and thats a sector the whole EU is missing.. sadly. But well, thats looking in the magic globe.
At the end of the day, I think we mastered the global crisis quite well. And i believe the Euro will survive the "Greece Crisis". We will find some way to both save Greece and the EU. I read some interessting recommendations on creating a two-level Euro, to split it into two currencies. That would allow Greece to downgrade it, while still being a member of the Euro Nations. I'm no expert, but it sounds a little better compared to the other disaster-scenarios i mentioned earlier.
I'm more afraid of Portugal and Spain. Especially Spain is an important economy for the EU. If both of them start to struggle with similar crisis, i might have to get the dust of my few Mark coins found in an old pocket a few weeks ago 

To continue the earlier post.. Out of obvious reasons, there are not much Canadian coins over here But we dont need them for laundromats to stop working! ha! we are independent!

posted on April 13th, 2010, 10:03 am

Yes... we can break our laundromats ourselves without the involvement of (foreign) money

posted on April 13th, 2010, 10:11 am

Yeah.

The four most vulnerable countries in the Euro zone are also referred by the not-so-nice acronym of PIGS.

That stands for Portugal-Ireland-Greece-Spain.

At least Iceland is not part of the EU.

posted on April 13th, 2010, 11:44 am

how popular are laundromats in both europe and america?

i live in britainlandshire and even poor people here seem to have washing machines in their houses. so the laundromat is dying out, i thought that it was the same in most countries, do people use laundromats a lot in other countries? i ask this because everyone is in america seems annoyed that canadian coins keep jamming in coin slots.

posted on April 13th, 2010, 12:03 pm

I live in the UK and I don't even know where the nearest laundromat is....like you said, everyone around here seems to just have washing machines in their houses

posted on April 13th, 2010, 1:11 pm

well id say they are dieing around here but i dont live in a big city so maybe they are more popular there

posted on April 13th, 2010, 1:23 pm

    No surprise industries like electric-gaming (and of course the invincible liquor industry) are growing at a time when people really don't need, but want distractions.
    What are Germany's major exports these days?  I'm ashamed to have to ask, German-Canadian that I am and all, but If I hazard a guess... (beer and guns) I could be a bit off...

    As for the laundering, I've got the machines in-house (most homes do), and I haven't seem many laundromats around, as a lot of apartment buildings now have in-house laundry rooms which are filled with the coin-operated machines.  It's kind of funny that the American machines don't like our change, almost as much as our own machines don't. 
    Ah well, it seems I'll be moving this summer, and if it's into a complex with pay-machines, I'll be sure to plug a few of these into em, just to see if somebody posts up an angry bulletin as a result:

Attachments

posted on April 13th, 2010, 1:36 pm

Germanys main exports are machines, vehicles, chemical and electronical goods as well as textiles, with the last one droping. At least the last time a read about that Germany is the third largest weapondealer in the world, but as far as i know there is a large drop in money between number 2 and 3. It was less then 3 mrd US Dollar in 2008, not even half of the export volume of the two top sellers, thats why its not one of the main exports. And about beer.. hm.. I thought about that too, but oh well, Germany has more landsides then just Bavaria