The first paragraph in the Swiss recycling guide says "before you buy anything please ask yourself,
do I really, really, REALLY need it?". If Aericans would apply this mantra to their daily lives the trade deficit would surely shrink and life would go on. On balance I think that a falling dollar is good for America, if not for its international tourists. It might be good to learn to live on less.

When I was living in America virtually all of my costs were dollar costs and it didn't make much difference what the Euro was doing. My food was local, my shoes were local, and my clothes and electronics came from Asia where the dollar hasn't lost much value.

It is unfortunate that Europe will bare the brunt
of the falling dollar as Asian goods will become
much cheaper but I am sure that the EU will find
regulations to deal with the problem.

Being old enough, I can remember when the French
Franc was at 3 to the dollar and when it was about
10 to the dollar; when the pound was at 1.7 and 1 to 1. The world didn't end and life went on quite
comfortably. I just have a few extra baubles to show for the days when the dollar was strong.