http://www.laborradio.org/node/7232The Dollar Is A 98 Pound Weakling As China Flirts With Stronger Euro - 11/08/07
The dollar hit a major peak in 2001 – but since then it has been all downhill with the steepest decline coming during the past six months. Jesse Russell takes a look:
By Jesse Russell
George Washington lost ground to a loonie on Wednesday as the Canadian dollar jumped two cents on Wednesday breaking the $1.10 value mark against the U.S. dollar. In the U.K. the dollar also hit a 26-year low against the pound which now is valued at $2.10. And as for the Euro, that is now valued at $1.47. The dollar had been enjoying a steady climb that started in 1996 until it hit a wall in February of 2002. Since that time the dollar has lost 35 percent of its value with 12.5 percent of that drop in the last year and 1.5 percent of the drop in the last week alone. Why? The sleeping dragon is awake and seeking a new way to finance its treasure. According to UK’s Guardian Unlimited, on Tuesday the Vice Chairman of China’s National People’s Congress told a conference in Beijing that the country would be favoring stronger currencies over weaker ones. That was followed by comments from the vice director of China’s central bank who said the dollar was “losing its status as a world currency. Economists also cite skyrocketing oil prices, the collapsing sub-prime mortgage market, and a dependency on credit as additional reasons for the fall.