O.K., I have a thought to share on the dollar slide for whatever it may
or may not be worth. Perhaps it's a symptom of investment and, to
some extent, consumption habits of participants in the U.S. economy. If
American capitalists prefer to invest abroad over investing domestically
(and American consumers buy "foreign" rather than American) then we are,
in essence, exporting dollars therefore increasing foreign supply of
dollars and reducing foreign demand for dollars. With enough of us
pushing enough of our currency everywhere but into the domestic market
a "poor" foreign capitalist could get to feeling like one more greenback in
his or her wallet (as opposed to a yen or d-mark) is about as necessary as a
hole in the head. The positive side of this interpretation is that if more
of us (who have the means, of course) invested more in the rest of us the
dollar could, in theory, be "reflated" in world currency markets. An
added bonus (now this is *wildly* optimistic) could be a broadening of dollar
distribution to more Americans who are struggling and suffering.
Bill Haller
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Bill Haller \/ University Center for Social
Department of Sociology /\ and Urban Research (UCSUR)
University of Pittsburgh \/ 121 University Place, 6th floor
email: wxhst3@pitt.edu /\ Pittsburgh, PA 15213-9972
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