"Voyager" <think.uninc@dlcwest.com> wrote in message news:a05b0c25-d271-4d13-98d0-189f9499091d@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com... > x-no-archive: yes > > They did it for decades following the second world war: setting > values for the Canadian dollar - to facilitate sales of central > Canadian manufacturing goods, the consequence on western and Atlantic > farmers and fishermen and western Canadian resource extraction be > damned. > > And they are doing it again now indirectly - with pronunciations on > the "over-valued" Canadian dollar. Pronunciations made several times > in the last two weeks. > > Pronunciations from Bank Of Canada employees that benefit Central > Canada and harm the western Canadian and Atlantic resource extracting > provinces. > > Will Harper tell these employees to stfu? > > Fat chance. He screwed them on Equalization and he is more than > willing to let them get screwed by BofC public opining. While I agree that the BoC causes more harm than good and is a totally unnecessary institution, as an exporting province how does pronouncements of an "over valued" dollar harm Saskatchewan in particular? (I know they are attempting to "talk" down the dollar). A lower dollar makes it easier to export products and Saskatchewan is a major exporter. In that respect the prov is similar to Ontario.

<farms@explosives.com> wrote in message news:5sk4k3p6upo5npb9vjgbbme1s0kda6lisi@4ax.com... > >how does pronouncements of an "over valued" dollar harm >>Saskatchewan in particular? >>A lower dollar makes it easier to >>export products and Saskatchewan is a major exporter. > > It harms Saskatchewan in the fact that we are also a huge IMPORTER as > well. > > Every year Saskatchewan spends $4 Billion (that is with a "B") in > input costs: > > http://tinyurl.com/282w2n An exchange rate is good or bad depending on your personal situation. If you export more than buy then of course you would want a lower dollar. It bites you in the ass at times that's true but it's still to your advantage as a farmer. I think it's a fair bet Saskatchewan would export more than it imports on balance. There is no overall gain or loss for the country as a whole. Exports and imports must balance at some point in time. It may not happen this year or the next but the country can not spend more than it earns in the long run. This is one reason why the US gov't is pursuing a lower dollar. They need to cut back on the imports and increase exports to fix their balance of payments. Their consumer will end up with higher prices across the board down the road. There is no free lunch. What the US is doing now is sending out sale flyers to the world. HEY, WE HAVE A SALE GOING ON HERE. We're discounting everything by 20-30%!! A lower dollar is like a discount on merchandise to a foreigner. In that situation to prevent all domestic product from going to a foreign nation the local person must meet the price in terms of their currency, ie the domestic price rises. That then shows up in the stats as inflation. > > just about all of that is priced in US dollars. North American > fertilizer market, farm chemicals, farm machinery (all major equipment > from US) and fuel. > > The stronger the Canadian dollar the cheaper it is to import products. > Have you noticed that now since oil is around $92/drum that the price > in Canada for fuel is the same as it was when oil was at $78/drum? Of course. Our prices were going down at the pump while the barrel was going up in US$. > > The down side of course is that commodies are sold in US dollars as > well so exporting takes the hit. You can't have it both ways at the > same time. > > Think I wasn't aware of that? Personally I've never been a fan of a lower dollar. There is no advantage to most of us at our level. It's the gov't that wants a lower dollar. It makes debts disappear and guess who's the biggest borrower by far.