NPR: Canadian Dollar Matches U.S., While Euro Soars

Canadian Dollar Matches U.S., While Euro Soars

Several years ago, when I lived in Canada and worked via the Internet for The Christian Science Monitor in Boston, the gap between my U.S. salary and what it was worth in Canadian dollars was so large, I had to pay an additional $30,000 in taxes in Canada. That's how much extra income the dollar difference generated.

Well, I wouldn't have to pay extra today. For the first time in 30 years, the Canadian and American dollars are at par. That's because this week's half-point interest cut had the effect of "weakening the dollar versus other currencies by reducing the cash yield on dollars," The Associated Press reports.

This will make Canadians heading to America on vacation very happy and Canadian auto-part makers, film people and American ball players in Toronto very unhappy.

But what's going on with the Canadian dollar is small potatoes compared to the euro. It hit $1.40 U.S. today, which is a big deal, as AP explains:

That level had long been seen as a key benchmark in terms of solidifying the euro's position on currency markets and giving it momentum toward becoming a reserve currency of choice — a position long held by the now-weakening dollar.

4:38 PM ET | 09-20-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

You open a Pandora's Box of Canadian Tourist jokes I absolutely refuse to touch. That's too easy a mark.

fred call

Sent by fred call | 5:29 PM ET | 09-20-2007

I was listening to your show and must say that Mr. Mearsheimer lives in a complete ignorance as to the goals of the Islamic world.
To think that the Moslems attacks on the US come as a result of its support for Israel is to my opinion not realistic.

The extreme Moslems have declared war against the free world and the US long before Israel was a state (please refer to Mr. KUTUB legacy)

The Moslem world was successful in putting the Israeli Palestinian conflict in the focus of world public opinion so that people come to think that once this issue is solved -- all the problems in the world will come to an end.

This is a complete false idea. They use this conflict very wisely as a cover up for their intentions so that the public opinion will not pay attention to the real war they are conducting against the free world.

Take this argument from the Moslem world and you take the ground from under their tactic. This is why Arafat said NO to Barak in Camp David after getting almost everything he said he wanted.

Israel is the only US ally that understands this situation. -- Europe with its huge "Moslem minority" is completely lost already to the Moslem world.

I would recommend reading War Footing by Frank J. Gaffney to understand the reality America is facing.

since Mr. Mearsheimer mentioned ex President Carter book in the show, I would like to draw your attention to an article written by Mr. Alan M. Dershowitz yesterday in the Israel Commentary website.

Please go to http://www.israel-commentary.org/
and search for the Sept. 19, 2007 article. It is a worth while reading

Sent by asiev | 5:29 PM ET | 09-20-2007

Okay, I can't resist the temptation. But this is not so much a Canadian Tourist Joke as it is a mystery about Canadian tourists I've wrestled with for years.

I've known Canadian tourists all my life. Canadian tourists to Florida are like clockwork They are more reliable than the swallows to Capistrano. I can set my biological time clock by the arrival and departure of Canadians who I've known for years. The Canadians I've known have rented the same condo or apartment year after year, for decades. Many of them have purchased condos by now. We've played tennis and golf together, year after year after year. Most of my Canadian tourist friends stay in Florida a good six months. From Thanksgiving to Easter, whatever month Easter falls on that particular year.

Okay, now maybe you can explain something to me. Here is a typical scenario between my Canadian friends and myself. We're standing on, oh, say, the sixteenth green. I'm getting ready to putt. My Canadian friend invariably starts talking about how poor he or she is. I look up from my putting stance. I say, "You've been here in Florida six months and you're poor" They never answer my question.

Why won't my Canadian friends answer a simple question like that?

Fred call

Sent by fred call | 5:54 PM ET | 09-20-2007

You got to stand out here in the Southwest desert to get a fuller perspective on the comparison between the Canadian Euro to the Chinese Wal-Mart/American dollar inflationary scheme. You watch the semis roll in from across the border headed north toward Saskatchewan. We've made that one more big leap toward the bridal suite for a threesome with the peso. One big happy economic family. I hear tell there's a push on to call the new united dollar the "Alamo."

Though there are political leanings toward calling the new dollar the "Je Me Souviens. " Either way, no, we won't forget the old days. My gut feeling is that the moniker of the "Alamo" dollar will win out. By dint of brevity of breath in speaking. I can only guess what's to become of George Washington's familiar mugshot.

I hear tell that the new "Alamo" dollar will be worth about half as much as the old Chinese Wal-Mart/American dollar formerly emblazoned with a Wanted Poster for the Cherry Tree Killer. People. People. You worry way too much. Either they double the price of gasoline. Or they devalue your old currency by half again. Whichever way the terrible fall into feudalism goes, look at it this way: Next time you go to Wal-Mart, you need buy a much smaller wallet or purse.

Fred call

Sent by fred call | 10:00 AM ET | 09-21-2007

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