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Post By markharf
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Post By markharf
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7 Jun 2023
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Canadian Dollar
I have seen the fluctuations in the the past where our dollar was supreme
but now days it seems like a pipe dream to travel to countries where our dollar has no buying power.
Ecuador for a example US dollar and add 35 to 40 per cent. is this a bargain, I say no this Its a third word Country
Colombia on the other Hand Yes there's a lot of value for your Can Buck
Canada has the 9 th largest economy in the world and WTF is going on, its like our dollar is lowest in these first world nations
So where is it economical on the exchange rate to go traveling , Mexico ok its a bargain or Central America except Panama even Venezuela is going Green Back
It is not like our wages are higher than the USA or Europe
Canadian currency is at a all time low and it keeps repeating itself on the world market we have a first world status and a third world monetary pay
What a Mess we are in It gives you a real bad taste in your mouth to pay 35
or more % for the same product 5 km away if you live on the the border of USA But it is usually not the case because Americans are nice and they understand your money sucks
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7 Jun 2023
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The Canadian dollar is far far far from its all-time low. At the moment a USD is worth about CAD$1.35; in the early 2000s it hit $1.60. And you're old enough to remember ten or twelve years ago when the CAD traded above parity with the USD--it took less than one loonie to buy a US dollar. So that's just in case you're looking for facts, rather than an excuse to rant.
I'm no economist, but even I know that Canada's economy is very commodities-based, which means lots of reliance on sales of oil (prices are down) and lots of vulnerability to recessionary forces, especially in the US. Recessions mean less oil consumed, but also less minerals, less lumber....you name it. Another basic factor: if Canadian interest rates don't stay higher than US rates, people would rather park their money in the US. High interest rates tend to depress the local economy. You can figure out the rest.
Last, there is no natural law that says stuff has to be cheaper in the Developing World than it is in Canada. Sometimes it is, but sometimes it's really just not. And most often it depends on what you're buying/measuring.
As you were.
Mark
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8 Jun 2023
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Canuck buck
Im just saying that we are running out of places to enjoy our later years in life its not a rant its a fact
If you have a meager social pension, Choose your Destiny Wisely
Why would you pay thirty five percent more when you shop for the same product on the shelf in any store, the same goes when traveling abroad
I work in the Arabian Gulf and its actually humorous when you go to the bank machine to get OMR currency one Rial Oman gets you a pack of gum this is 3.5 dollars Canadian OMG! Not bad considering you are buying Juicy Fruit
you just have to laugh
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8 Jun 2023
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If the Canadian dollar is in the doldrums it’s there keeping the British pound company. 
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8 Jun 2023
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As a European I’ve just travelled from Canada to Patagonia and the only place I would consider cheap was Argentina and that was because of the exchange rate we were getting through Western Union.
Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, which are all accessible for Europeans, are cheap compared to the Americas.
When we were in the US the pound was parity with the dollar - it would have been cheaper to go to Norway!!!
Back in the 80s you could have gone RTW for £2K, cheap countries are disappearing - it’s the same for everyone.
BTW we met more Canadians than Americans (US) and very nice they were too.
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8 Jun 2023
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This is nothing new; this has been the ongoing story since the Mulroney government in the late 80s. Occasionally the Canuck buck rises to 80-85% of a US dollar, a recession hits, and then the value slumps back down to 70%. Rinse, repeat.
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8 Jun 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by brclarke
....this has been the ongoing story since the Mulroney government in the late 80s. Occasionally the Canuck buck rises to 80-85% of a US dollar, a recession hits, and then the value slumps back down to 70....
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As I posted above, this is not true--or rather, it's true only if you take a very short perspective on history.
The USD/CAD exchange rate hovered around 100 for about 25 years throughout the time I was growing up (with family on both sides of the border). In ~1978 the CAD started sinking, bottoming out in ~2002, almost a decade after Mulroney left office. It then began a rapid rise, culminating in a couple of years during which it was worth *more* than the USD ~2011-2012. After that, it sank again to approximately where it stands now.
I'm not pretending I understand the underlying reasons for any of this, but I do like to check my assumptions and beliefs against reality. Google makes this remarkably easy. C.f., https://fxtop.com/en/historical-exch...DD2=08&LANG=en
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9 Jun 2023
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From a moderation viewpoint I'd like to politely point out that it's never a good idea to derogatively generalise about a country and its citizens. I am sure there are many extremely hardworking Argentines amongst the 45 million population.
Other more positive stereotypes of Argentines are that they are passionate, noble, honest and kind. But the reality is that all countries have a mix of good and not-so-good.
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9 Jun 2023
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Seems to be pretty normal.
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9 Jun 2023
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We didn’t miss Colombia and it was one of the highlights of the trip. Whilst it was one of the best countries value for money wise, in the Americas, it was not cheap, for us, when compared to countries like Bulgaria, Slovakia, India or south east Asia.
What I’m talking about is what I said, and you quoted, the reason Argentina was so cheap for us was the exchange rate we got through Western Union - we paid less than half, for everything, that the Argentinians paid.
Our experience in Argentina was fantastic, the people were so nice and any one we had dealings with went above and beyond.
Last edited by Tim Cullis; 22 Aug 2023 at 08:43.
Reason: Edited to remove quote of post that has since been moderated, i.e. removed!
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10 Jun 2023
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peso peso !
1981 I was in Peru and the Sole was devaluating every day and it was a bargain for a traveller
Argentina was at a all time low they were printing million peso notes that was worth a bottle of wine and a steak sandwich
then all hell broke loose the guerra de Malvinas the falklands war
Argentina was a country that thrived on Canadian dollar back then because Canada was building a CANDU reactor for electricity for the nation
During the 80s canada was a country helping everybody The Caribbean was basically bailed out with Canadian dollars + Brazil and many places in SA
we Canadians have contributed a lot in the americas
and its hard to find a place to where your dollar is worth anything
id guess our leaders are to blame
US rules but I dont make that buck
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11 Jun 2023
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Quote:
Originally Posted by markharf
As I posted above, this is not true--or rather, it's true only if you take a very short perspective on history.
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As you wrote yourself, since 1978, the Canadian dollar has generally been worth quite a bit less than the US buck.
Sure, for about 18 months it flipped the other way, but for most of the last 40+ years, the loonie has been weaker, and usually by a fairly wide margin.
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11 Jun 2023
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Yes, that's what I pointed out--that for most of the last 40 years the CAD has been trading below the USD. I also pointed out that for the preceding 25 years they stayed more or less equal.
In my book, "never" doesn't mean "seldom," "always" doesn't mean "usually," and "since Mulroony" doesn't mean....well, you get the idea. I'm ok if all of it means something different to someone else, in which case there's not really much point to arguing about it.
I notice that gasoline on your side of the border is only marginally more expensive these days than down here on mine. Might be time I played tourist...
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11 Jun 2023
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With moderator hat scrunched tightly down around my ears, probably cutting off blood flow to my brain, I've taken down a couple of posts in this thread. To review: insults aimed at an ethnicity or nationality are not ok here. Insults aimed at other members, individually or as a class, are also not ok. Resist the temptation!
If you find you've got a problem with another member's post, please feel free to use the little red and white button at the top right corner of every post to signal your displeasure.
I can't wait to get rid of this hat.
Mark
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11 Jun 2023
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wow currency
What you make in your country is the bottom line How you make it is nobody's business the issue is how much value you get for what you have when you show up in a foreign country and use a bank machine and get money in the Country you are in
This is irrelevant to your agenda who cares, its your money. You can't put a price on a good experience that you will think I am glad I did this, in your life time
Easter island is a good example for me and all the indigenous cultures in the Andes back in the 80s with out a moto
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