That's me. I move to Spain on Saturday for a year and possibly longer, and while I'll be paid in Euros, my savings aren't worth anywhere near as much as they were when I first applied for the job, and even less than when I last went there, which was less than the time before that. 1.25 two summers ago, 1.33 last summer and now 1.41 with no signs of stopping. It'll probably be 1.50 when my family comes to see me for Christmas.
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Canadian Dollar Hits 99.99 US Cents!
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Same with me in Korea. Paid in Won but send it back to Canada. The Canadian dollar rise has made my Korean earnings less valuable by quite a bit this year.
One thing no one has mentioned is how this CAD-USD parity will allow the U.S and Canadian currencies to easily merge into the Amero, North America's slated answer to the Euro. How the Mexican peso is doing lately, I don't know, but they are part of the North American Union juggernaut, as well.
guifa and freebooter, I feel for you!
A friend of the family had retired to Ireland last year, converting all their US savings into Euros in the process. They sold their house, found a place to rent over there and made a go at it.
After a year, they decided they wanted to be back in the US, and converted everything back.
They actually had more money after coming back than before they left, and that was the same money they were using to live off of for a year (rent, food, shopping, etc.)!!!
A friend of the family had retired to Ireland last year, converting all their US savings into Euros in the process. They sold their house, found a place to rent over there and made a go at it.
After a year, they decided they wanted to be back in the US, and converted everything back.
They actually had more money after coming back than before they left, and that was the same money they were using to live off of for a year (rent, food, shopping, etc.)!!!
Slated? You must mean completely imagined. Maybe that's why nobody's mentioned it.
Me thinks it might have been tongue in cheek
Hard to know. Someone has actually proposed the Amero concept, but it's gone about as far as you might expect.
Of course, most Apple products aren't even made in the U.S., and duties in the U.S. and Canada for products imported from Asia are similar. Canadian taxes, unlike the British VAT, are added to the price at the point of sale.
Having said this, the only major quarrel I have with Apple's pricing is the very infrequent updates - usually only when a new product first ships. iLife 08, for example, is being sold at par. Mac Pros, on the other hand, carry a 10-15% surcharge. So, if Apple updated its prices a bit more frequently, they would probably be much fairer than the prices charged by publishers and other manufacturers (for example, books priced at $6.99-$7.99 USD are $12.99 CAD, and the Samsung Quatro RM255LASH refrigerator sells for $1999 at Best Buy in the U.S. and $3699 at Future Shop in Canada).
These comparisons are essentially meaningless. Instead try comparing the prices of books printed in Canada vs. books printed in the US, or the prices of all computers sold in Canada. I think you'll find that the price of goods is set in the markets where they are sold, not where they are manufactured.
Exactly. While the cost of a good may be higher in Canada, I'd also wager that the Canadian buying it has a higher salary (in Canadian Dollars) than does an American with the same job.
My real fear is that once the US dollar does start gaining against foreign currency it will be because of inflation and not because of economic gains.
I hope our Aussie dollar reaches parity soon, we're nearly there, 88c (consider that it was 48c only a few years ago)
I just got back from a few days in Toronto. They laughed at me. I'd go to buy something in a store and ask "are US dollars ok" and they'd just get all giddy and say "They're the same!". They'd hold a Canadian 10 and a US 10 in the air and say "They're the same!" and giggle and giggle until I could get myself out to the street and blend into the crowd...
On the one hand it was nice that I could just mix and match-- pay a $7 bill with $5 Canadian and $2 US, but then I'd think about how far my country has fallen if I'm being publicly ridiculed by the gentle Canucks...
Oh, and as far as Apple's pricing goes? When you hosers adjust the price of beer to reflect the strong loonie, we'll talk about Apple dropping Macbook prices.
On the one hand it was nice that I could just mix and match-- pay a $7 bill with $5 Canadian and $2 US, but then I'd think about how far my country has fallen if I'm being publicly ridiculed by the gentle Canucks...
Oh, and as far as Apple's pricing goes? When you hosers adjust the price of beer to reflect the strong loonie, we'll talk about Apple dropping Macbook prices.
Unlikely. The average Canadian income is less than the average American income, and the average personal taxes paid by Canadians are significantly higher. Although my profession is not typical, I have been offered more than 150% of my current income to do the same work in the U.S. And that was not a particularly generous offer.
The only significant advantage Canadians have is government-sponsored health care, which, at least for the poor, is better than what's available to Americans. Well, that, the ban on the public carrying handguns, and hockey.
Unlikely. The average Canadian income is less than the average American income, and the average personal taxes paid by Canadians are significantly higher. Although my profession is not typical, I have been offered more than 150% of my current income to do the same work in the U.S. And that was not a particularly generous offer.
The only significant advantage Canadians have is government-sponsored health care, which, at least for the poor, is better than what's available to Americans. Well, that, the ban on the public carrying handguns, and hockey.
I disagree. I don't know what you do, but I looked up jobs as a baggage handler in the US and Canada (because they usually list pay rates) and found the following:
1. Air Canada - Edmonton $12.51CAD/hr.
2. Continental Airlines - $9.69USD/hr.
That's crazy. Ontario just raised the minimum wage to $10/hour. So you get more cleaning Canadian fast food toilets than working behind American security lines?
I remember friends that were offered substantial raises to relocate south to the US (IT industry, pre 9/11); the numbers were roughly the same, the raise came from the exchange rates.
You will know things are bad when outsourced/overseas online support workers in India ask not to be paid in $US.
That's baggage handling. TSA guys start at $12-$13/hr. But Ontario's minimum wage is another good example.
The US's blanket minimum wage was just raised from $5.15/hr to $5.85/hr. Some states have their own higher minimum wages, with Washington the leader with a $7.93/hr minimum wage. About 10% of the states have minimum wages above $7/hr, 50% of them are between $6-$7/hr, and the rest are at the federal minimum wage level of $5.85/hr.
On average, American incomes are higher.
And for the average two child family, Canadian taxes are twice as high. So Canadian take-home income is much lower.
First off, you make a great case by using Wikipedia as a source
Secondly,
Wikipedia said:
On June 1, 2000 (random date) the CAD-USD exchange rate was 0.66840 (source) which means that the median Canadian income in 2000 was 62,103 CAD. While that may have been equivalent to 41,510 USD in 2000, today it is equivalent to 62,430.76 USD (Source as of 9/30).
I'm sure I don't get the relevance of this discussion of median incomes. A country could be completely impoverished, but this doesn't have any impact on the price of imported goods.
The only significant advantage Canadians have is government-sponsored health care, which, at least for the poor, is better than what's available to Americans. Well, that, the ban on the public carrying handguns, and hockey.
I don't think this should be overlooked:
Hockey teams in Canada: 6
Hockey teams in USA: 24
And you can actually get *tickets* in most US arenas
:cough:: Leaps ::cough:: Habs).
I paid tuition to a Canadian University from my savings in the 'States for the past four years. Let me tell you, it's pretty grim to stare at fractional increases to your $20,000 annual tuition on a daily basis.
Even worse, I will have to double up on loans that were half their current interest rate four years ago if I am to attend the grad school I'm after in UK, and then only to face an even harsher exchange rate.
My God.
Even worse, I will have to double up on loans that were half their current interest rate four years ago if I am to attend the grad school I'm after in UK, and then only to face an even harsher exchange rate.
My God.