Euro worth over 1.50 USD

[Oleander Ardens]

So who stills wonders that more and more countries try to get the stable Euro instead of the green endresult of a monetary policy similar to a banana republic? As an asset manager who actually keeps an eye on the health of the economy I rather happy that the ECB is so steadfast, while the FED seems to be a little shy maid doing whatever the financial market wants.

Cheers

[Papewaio]

What is the buying power of the Euro?

Does 1 Euro buy 1.5 times as much US Dollars?

I think too many people wrap up to much emotions/prestige/baggage with currency rates to truly use it as a non-subjective index of the health of a countries economy. Just like any other commodity or share the value can be quite well economically grounded to just another emotional rollarcoaster.

[KukriKhan]

Good question. What will 1 Euro buy?

Its equivalent, 1.50 dollar, will buy two 12-ounce cans of discount beer in a southern california supermarket.

-edit-
got the comparison backwards the first time. :)

[Kagemusha]

Good question. What will 1.50 Euro buy?

Its equivalent, 1 dollar, will buy two 12-ounce cans of discount beer in a southern california supermarket.

Ofcourse it depends on a country´s set of prizes. In US one Euro buys anything worth 1.5 dollars does.

[KukriKhan]

Ofcourse it depends on a country´s set of prizes. In US one Euro buys anything worth 1.5 dollars does.

Outside of New York City, one would be hard-pressed to find anywhere that would accept a Euro as cash.

But, today, in Finland, how much beer can you get for 1 Euro?

[drone]

KukriKhan wisely chooses beer as a reference for spending power comparisons.

Another comparison: In my area, $3.10 will buy you 1 US Gallon (3.785 Liters) of gasoline, or $0.82 a Liter.

IANAE, but I'm leery of the Fed lowering rates any more than they already have. They may as well be printing money. As a country, we need to suck it up and deal with the recession coming, not making it worse by piling inflation on top of it.

[Kagemusha]

Outside of New York City, one would be hard-pressed to find anywhere that would accept a Euro as cash.

But, today, in Finland, how much beer can you get for 1 Euro?

Well ofcourse you should first change it to local currency. Our beer is quite expensive over here 0,33 dl bottle costs about 80 cents. But for example in Estonia same size beer costs about 40 cents or less. The prizes are just not comparable in Euro zone. In Southern and Eastern Europe the prizes are lower then in US, but im sure in central and Northern Europe the prizes are comparable or higher then the US prizes.

[Husar]

Outside of New York City, one would be hard-pressed to find anywhere that would accept a Euro as cash.

That's why you change the currency first. You pay a fee usually but you should still get quite a bit more than 1$ for your Euro.

But, today, in Finland, how much beer can you get for 1 Euro?

Don't know about Finland or here (may check tomorrow) but I got four 0.33l bottles for free today.
I think you won't get a lot though, prices here are pretty inflated so your point about purchase power remains. I am, however, looking forward to coming to the US.

[KukriKhan]

Yeah. We also have to consider the sales environment: beer and fuel both get several levels of sin-taxation added, and many euro countries have state-controlled liquor outlets, all factors that warp the prices, and skew comparisons.

Let's try bread:

A French Loaf Made With Hearty Wheat Flour and Crunchy Grain.
1 Count
$1.49/each
Our Price: $1.49

^^from my local supermarket, almost $1.50. Can you get a loaf of bread for 1 Euro?

[Uesugi Kenshin]

That's why you change the currency first. You pay a fee usually but you should still get quite a bit more than 1$ for your Euro.


Don't know about Finland or here (may check tomorrow) but I got four 0.33l bottles for free today.
I think you won't get a lot though, prices here are pretty inflated so your point about purchase power remains. I am, however, looking forward to coming to the US.

Actually the best way to go, especially if you're "in country" long-term, is to just bring your ATM card with you. Don't bother exchanging anything more than 100 euros or so, it's waaaay too expensive. With a US mastercard debit card you can take money out at German banks (and probably elsewhere as well) and you only pay 1 euro per transaction and they convert your cash at whatever the rate happens to be.

[Husar]

Actually the best way to go, especially if you're "in country" long-term, is to just bring your ATM card with you. Don't bother exchanging anything more than 100 euros or so, it's waaaay too expensive. With a US mastercard debit card you can take money out at German banks (and probably elsewhere as well) and you only pay 1 euro per transaction and they convert your cash at whatever the rate happens to be.

I have a master card credit card and I hear taking money costs me 5EUR or 1% of the amount I take IIRC so I'm not sure that's the best idea, unless my normal EC card works or I take a lot of money at once. My bank advised me to take some traveler cheques with me, they can give me those here before I go anywhere, not sure about any additional costs they may cause.

[Mikeus Caesar]

Pahahaha, you silly humans, you should change to the almighty Pound Sterling, worth 50 of your Earth dollars.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

I have a master card credit card and I hear taking money costs me 5EUR or 1% of the amount I take IIRC so I'm not sure that's the best idea, unless my normal EC card works or I take a lot of money at once. My bank advised me to take some traveler cheques with me, they can give me those here before I go anywhere, not sure about any additional costs they may cause.

Well it really depends on how long you're going over for. I went to Germany for a year, so taking money out was definitely better, and the charge was only a buck, though it may not work out the same way for you on this side of the pond.

Your EC may work, but some card that a bunch of German exchange students brought here only worked in specific banks, so I'm not sure if that's a great alternative.

If you're not going for long traveler's checks are probably a really good idea.

[Ice]

IANAE, but I'm leery of the Fed lowering rates any more than they already have. They may as well be printing money. As a country, we need to suck it up and deal with the recession coming, not making it worse by piling inflation on top of it.

The hell with that drone. Ben and the boys at the Federal Reserve say more Rate Cuts!

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/...525296845.html

I wonder if we can cut rates into the negative. I mean cutting rates to 1% last time did wonders for the economy... oh wait, it ended up contributing to the massive housing downturn and credit crunch we are currently experiencing. Silly me.

DOW JONES REPRINTS
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Bernanke Hints at More Rate Cuts
Amid Multiple Economic Risks
By TOM BARKLEY and BRIAN BLACKSTONE
February 27, 2008 4:26 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Wednesday delivered an economic forecast fraught with risks from housing, labor and credit markets, suggesting policymakers remain on track to lower interest rates further next month.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bernanke indicated that inflation risks are more two-sided, though skewed slightly to the high side -- a nod to the stagflationary mix of weak growth and rising price data of late.
MORE ON THE FED
ers6

But Mr. Bernanke made it clear where the Fed's main worries lie. "It is important to recognize that downside risks to growth remain," Mr. Bernanke told members of the House Financial Services Committee in prepared semiannual testimony on the state of the economy and monetary policy.

Fed officials "will need to judge whether the policy actions taken thus far are having their intended effects," Mr. Bernanke said, adding the central bank "will act in a timely manner as needed" to keep the economy on track.

Mr. Bernanke's remarks, which echo those he made earlier this month as well as comments Tuesday by Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn, suggest officials will most likely lower the federal-funds target rate at their March 18 meeting, as most economists expect. The Federal Open Market Committee has already cut the fed-funds rate at which banks lend to each other by 2.25 percentage points since September to 3%, including 1.25 percentage points over an eight-day period last month.

In Wednesday's report, the Fed noted that investors expect 100 basis points in additional rate cuts this year.

In his testimony, Mr. Bernanke offered no indication that the beleaguered housing sector is approaching a bottom. Housing should weigh on the economy "in coming quarters," Mr. Bernanke said. And one of the building sector's only bright spots last year -- nonresidential construction -- "is likely to decelerate sharply," he added.

That weakness appears to be spilling over into other sectors of the economy like consumer and business spending that had withstood the housing carnage for much of 2007.
RBS Global senior economist Michelle Girard doesn't expect a recession this year, but still has worries about the tight credit market and further falls in home prices. MarketWatch's Steve Gelsi reports.

Consumer spending "appears to have slowed significantly," Mr. Bernanke said, while higher energy prices and a weakening job market could weigh further on consumption. "The business sector has also displayed signs of being affected by the difficulties in the housing and credit markets," Mr. Bernanke said.

Financial markets, meanwhile, remain under "considerable stress," he added, and officials will monitor financial developments "closely."

In its quarterly economic forecasts released last week, the Fed downgraded its 2008 gross domestic product forecast by 0.5 percentage point to a range of 1.3% to 2%. That's even further below what officials expected back in July.

"The incoming information since our January meeting continues to suggest sluggish economic activity in the near term," Mr. Bernanke said.

Indeed, in a recent National Association for Business Economics survey, nearly half of surveyed economists think the U.S. is either already in a recession or will be this year. Mr. Bernanke's testimony made no mention of recession, though.

And he noted some bright spots, including strong business balance sheets, balanced inventories and rising exports, which Mr. Bernanke said have been helped by the lower dollar. The recently enacted fiscal stimulus package should boost growth in the second half of this year and into 2009, he added.

Mr. Bernanke was mixed on inflation. It has increased in recent months due largely to higher energy prices, Mr. Bernanke said. But looking forward, "inflation could be lower than we anticipate if slower-than-expected global growth moderates the pressure on the prices of energy and other commodities or if rates of domestic resource utilization fall more than we currently expect," Bernanke said.

Still, recent energy and commodity price gains "suggest slightly greater upside risks to the projections of both overall and core inflation than we saw last month," Mr. Bernanke said. Core inflation excludes food and energy prices. The weaker dollar is another inflation risk, he said.

But core inflation should moderate after this year, Mr. Bernanke added, since officials "expected inflation expectations to remain reasonably well-anchored and pressures on resource utilization to be muted."

Mr. Bernanke also outlined steps the Fed would like to take on deceptive mortgage practices, including a prohibition against making high-priced mortgages without "due regard" to a homeowner's ability to pay and requiring lenders to establish escrow accounts for property taxes and homeowners insurance. The proposal was released for public comment in December.

"We expect substantial public comment on our proposal, and we will carefully consider all information and viewpoints while moving expeditiously to adopt final rules," he said.

Fed Forecasts

The U.S. Federal Reserve said Wednesday it foresees a negative combination of below-trend growth and inflation rates topping 2% this year, though conditions are expected to start improving in 2009.

In its semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress, the Fed reiterated the downgraded forecasts it issued last week, for the economy to expand at a 1.3% to 2.0% pace this year, down a half-percentage point from the earlier forecast range.

The housing slump and tightening credit conditions for consumers and businesses are expected to continue to weigh on growth through this year and into 2009, with the recent rate cuts expected to return the economy to above-trend growth by 2010, it said. Gross domestic product is forecast to rise between 2.1% and 2.7% in 2009, and then increase to a 2.5% to 3.0% pace the following year.

Starting in the fourth quarter, "economic activity decelerated significantly, and the economy seems to have entered 2008 with little forward momentum," the Fed said in the report.

Tighter credit conditions for consumers and businesses have exacerbated the housing correction and weakened capital spending, the Fed said. Consumer spending has also started to be impacted by a range of factors, including "steep increases" in energy prices and falling prices in stocks and homes, it said.

The economy grew at a meager 0.6% pace in the fourth quarter, resulting in a 2.2% growth rate for all of 2007 that was the weakest in five years.

Most Fed officials see downside risk to their growth estimates, with an upward bias to their outlook for unemployment. The unemployment rate is projected to rise back above 5% this year, ending the year between 5.2% and 5.3%.

"The potential for adverse interactions, in which weaker economic activity could lead to a worsening of financial conditions and a reduced availability of credit, which in turn could further damp economic growth, could further damp economic growth, was viewed as an especially worrisome possibility," it said.

The Fed has cut its benchmark fed funds rate by 225 basis points since September, to 3%, amid signs that the troubles in the housing and financial markets are impacting the broader economy.

Investors anticipate an additional 100 basis points of easing by year-end, according to the report.

"Uncertainty about the path of policy had been very low during the first half of (2007), but it increased appreciably over the summer and generally has remained around its long-run historical average since then," the Fed said, citing the decline in Treasury yields.

The Fed has also sought to contain financial market volatility by injecting liquidity into the system through a new Term Auction Facility. Lower bid-to-cover ratios and spreads in the most recent auctions in January and February suggest the effort may be helping financial markets, it said.

Meanwhile, inflation is expected to remain above the assumed comfort zone for policymakers of 1.5% to 2%.

The Fed repeated the 2008 forecast for overall PCE inflation of 2.1% to 2.4% that it gave last week, which is above the previous estimate of 1.8% to 2.1%. The core PCE projection for this year has also been lifted to a range of 2.0% to 2.2%, from 1.7% to 1.9%.

Inflation is expected to start moderating later this year as energy prices come off their highs and the economic slowdown impacts other costs, the Fed said. Overall inflation is forecast to remain between 1.7% and 2.0% in 2009 and 2010, with nearly the same ranges for core prices.

The Fed acknowledged, however, that elevated price pressures could persist longer than expected, or that its recent easing could be "misinterpreted as reflecting less resolve" in containing inflation.

The Fed's latest report on the economic outlook accompanied Wednesday's prepared semi-annual testimony on the economy by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke to the House Financial Services Committee.

[Xiahou]

I wonder if we can cut rates into the negative. I mean cutting rates to 1% last time did wonders for the economy... oh wait, it ended up contributing to the massive housing downturn and credit crunch we are currently experiencing. Silly me.

Meh. I attribute it more to dumb buyers and even dumber lenders.

How much of our current inflation can be attributed to energy prices and our corn ethanol boondoggle?

[Ice]

Meh. I attribute it more to dumb buyers and even dumber lenders.

Which was sparked by the massively low interest rates at the time.

I do blame people for their stupidity, but this idiotic central bank isn't helping by giving a crack addict more crack.

How much of our current inflation can be attributed to energy prices and our corn ethanol boondoggle?

Not much considering core inflation excludes energy and food prices.

[drone]

Meh. I attribute it more to dumb buyers and even dumber lenders.

How much of our current inflation can be attributed to energy prices and our corn ethanol boondoggle?

I wouldn't say dumber lenders, but greedy lenders backed by dumber bond insurers and purchasers. Short-term, it was a great money maker, but like all bubbles, they have to burst.

Huge consumer debt, depressed housing market, rising energy and food prices, decreasing dollar, war expenditures, financially stretched local and state governments, and baby boomers retiring and getting old (i.e. sick). It's going to be ugly for at least a few years. Feel free to tack on more depressing indicators...

[Xiahou]

Not much considering core inflation excludes energy and food prices.

I'm sure you realize that long-term high energy and food prices will inevitably affect the prices of other goods.

[Ice]

I'm sure you realize that long-term high energy and food prices will inevitably affect the prices of other goods.

Long term it seems logical that this would be true, but I wouldn't pin it as the sole reason for the recent rise in inflation.

[Boyar Son]

Great. Now I can get a mcdonalds dollar menu burger and half of another. Congrats Europe

[Oleander Ardens]

Of course a high euro is a mixed bag, but right now all major currencies are doing very well against the dollar. I really wonder if the longstanding faith in the USD is fading. If it does it will have serious repercussions on the US-economy and make it harder and costlier to maintain such a high deficit.

As far as I know growth in the last quarter of 2007 was just 0.6% down from over 4% in the third quarter. Given that the population of the USA is rising fast - 1% per year - its economy has to expand also faster than in the EU to keep the people employed. So one can already consider 0.6% as a de facto recession.

Now we all now that things are getting worse and worse so I can not imagine that the USA will avoid a harsh recession. Thankfully Mr. Bush was able to finance a good deal of growth with tax cuts and huge military spending so that now the deficit is at record highs. Inflation is greatly on the rise as global growth continues as well as because of the financial run into commodities. The trade deficit is still huge and the exports are only slowly rising. A great deal of Americans are now feeling what it means to live above one's means. The senate is unable to agree on debt relief and Mr. Bush is still saying all is fine and that the economy is just slowing down a bit...

Sounds right

[Caerfanan]

But, today, in Finland, how much beer can you get for 1 Euro?

I truly think that taking ONE product to stand a point is a mistake. some things are expensive ine a contry, other things not, when viewed from abroad. For instance, in Sweden, Alcohol is horribly expensive, if you look from France. From other countries, it might look average or fair.

But I remember in 2002 people from america laughing at the Euro currency, because the rate was 1.3 euros for 1 dollar. America did look expensive those days (I went there a few times during this period). Now you have people crossing the Atlantic to do some shopping in NYC...

[Pannonian]

Good question. What will 1 Euro buy?

Its equivalent, 1.50 dollar, will buy two 12-ounce cans of discount beer in a southern california supermarket.

-edit-
got the comparison backwards the first time. :)

In the US, 1 dollar can buy a bottle of Budweiser, while in Britain, 2 pounds can buy a pint of Broadside. Now which currency is worth more?

[Mikeus Caesar]

In the US, 1 dollar can buy a bottle of Budweiser, while in Britain, 2 pounds can buy a pint of Broadside. Now which currency is worth more?

Yes, but Budweiser is about as good as tapwater, and thus is worth 1 dollar.

[KukriKhan]

Yes, but Budweiser is about as good as tapwater, and thus is worth 1 dollar.

LoL. In NYC some shops have gone "Euro only", catering to tourists, so they won't have the hassle of currency exchange.

[Xiahou]

Yes, but Budweiser is about as good as tapwater, and thus is worth 1 dollar.

Don't insult tapwater like that.

[TosaInu]

1,50 Euros will buy 1 liter (!) of petrol. How many gallons does $2.25 buy?

[drone]

1,50 Euros will buy 1 liter (!) of petrol. How many gallons does $2.25 buy?

Another comparison: In my area, $3.10 will buy you 1 US Gallon (3.785 Liters) of gasoline, or $0.82 a Liter.

Gasoline, like alcohol, is not really a fair comparison, due to the varied taxation by our respective governments. I'm guessing a much better benchmark would be staple foods, since they are generally the least taxed items.

[TosaInu]

Hello drone,

Sorry, missed it. Indeed, petrol is heavily taxed over here, and again.

Comparing food would be good, leave out things like cheese though, that became expensive for some reason.

[Ironside]

Yeah. We also have to consider the sales environment: beer and fuel both get several levels of sin-taxation added, and many euro countries have state-controlled liquor outlets, all factors that warp the prices, and skew comparisons.

Let's try bread:


^^from my local supermarket, almost $1.50. Can you get a loaf of bread for 1 Euro?

Depends on the bread. I can buy a loaf of bread from about 0.66 to 2.20 euro (well I got them in sek so it's around those values).

Comparing food would be good, leave out things like cheese though, that became expensive for some reason.

All dairy products have gone up in price. Not sure how the US market is affected.