Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Universal health care and a real currency?...

Those sneaky ol' Canadians have been using economic performance-enhancing potions, I guess. Take a look at the Canadian dollar (yeah, the one we used to laugh at 5 years ago).

Considering the hysteria that marks U.S. currency relationships with China and Japan, which stand accused of maintaining cheap currencies to boost exports, there should be widespread applause here for Canada. But as the Canadian dollar on Tuesday reached nearly a 30-year high against the U.S. dollar, trading at $1.07 Canadian per U.S. dollar, the Cassandras of international trade can't seem to find any words for our neighbors to the north. As far as I know, none of the financial pundits is saluting Canada's boon to U.S. exporters or, for that matter, complaining that the biggest U.S. trading partner is holding up U.S. consumers, who must pay more for Canadian goods. [More]
Most of my career producers near our northern border have been irked by the currency advantage that seemed to operate for Canadian competitors. Thanks to our huge appetite for Canadian energy, the gripes could be flowing the other way.

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