Dollar Parity

[+ Lucky]

Now that the US dollar equals the Canadian dollar, would it be better to just bring dollars to Canada and forget the exchange? Or would only Canadian dollars be acceptable currency? This development makes Canada much less of a bargain than it used to be. With the doubling of the lap dance from $10 to $20, a night at Stock could cost as much as a night at Club 20!

[Guest msclonly]

Interesting, that the dancers keep saying they will take the US$'s, which carries a few cents bonus at this time. The exchange rate would wipe out most of that unless you get FREE transactions, which is possible with the right checking account, where all the fees are refunded.

 

It may not be too long where the CD$ will be worth more and paying with the US$ will be cheaper! That is if they will take them, when that happens. !

 

;( :+ :+

 

Opps, the CD$ = US$ right now.

 

Gold was the place to be at this time.

[twinkboylover28]

I remember when my US Dollar got $1.60 Canadian (back in the day around 2001).

 

http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=dfb48166-5bea-49e5-a251-490d38ffc28d&k=85728&p=2

 

The Windsor Casino was running tv commercials saying "you get 6 quarters for every US Dollar."

 

Ahh the good ole days.

[Samai139]

You may be able to "pay" dancers for their services in US dollars, but it might be wise to get some Canadian dollars as well. To avoid having to pay an exchange rate, there are at least two alternatives--use your debit card at ATMs which do not charge a fee for withdrawals on US banks---I can use my debit card at the ATMs in Couche Tarde (sp??) and not incur any fees from either the ATM or my credit union. If you drive to Montreal, there are currency exchange places right over the border which do not charge an exchange fee--they just use the currency exchange rate that the Canadian government recognizes. I don't know if such exchanges bureaus exist at the airport in Montreal or not.

I suggest having some Canadian dollars because it's possible that you might incur some charge when you use your US dollars in restaurants, shops, etc.---not sure, but it would seem likely that they would try to cash in on the service they are providing. I suppose that using a credit card might avoid all that---not sure, I rarely use mine except to pay hotel bills.

It's certainly true that travel into and in Canada is no longer the bargain it was previously----sad, sad, sad.

[Guest msclonly]

The $20 per dance was started at The Stork, when they were riding high with the new setting and the dollar was worth more and cherished more.

 

Now that the dollar is down along with the tourists, you would think the the price of dances would be lowered. I realize it is just not much a possibility, because the mindset is get all you can. I am sure the guys as well as, the bar owners at Stock are envious of the success of Club 20 in NYC at their prices.

 

Even the Boardwalk boys think they are up for the $20 per.

And will rather play pool together, then lower their rates.

[Guest zipperzone]

>Now that the US dollar equals the Canadian dollar, would it

>be better to just bring dollars to Canada and forget the

>exchange? Or would only Canadian dollars be acceptable

>currency?

 

This type of question always makes me laugh.

 

Now that our dollar is at par with the US dollar - what would be the reaction if Canadians went down to the US and tried to buy with Canadian dollars? Not much success, would be my guess.

[Samai139]

Zipper--

You are absolutely right. I live near an outlet mall and many bus tours bring people from Canada to shop. There is NO place for tourists to exchange money, and the shops will accept Canadian money, but grumble about it, and certainly would NOT give Canadians a break in the exchange rate. Most tour bus operators tell their customers to change money before they come. The shops of course never considered lowering their prices when the value of the US dollar was high!! Just as the dancers at the strip bars will not lower their prices and might even refuse to accept US dollars in the back rooms.

When we go to Montreal, or Toronto now and eat, shop, etc. we have to pay the prices that everyone else has to pay---how arrogant to think that prices should be lowered just because our money is worth less!

As an American, I loved the years when my dollar was worth a lot more than yours. Now? Hey, I have to live with the consequences of the economic situation.

Montreal still has the finest men in the world, as far as I'm concerned, and they are worth every penny I spend )

[Guest msclonly]

Stores and dancers are too different situations.

 

The stores are selling goods, and the dancer are no where as busy as they used to be, except perhpas on Holiday weekends. Even those are down, since there are not the numbers of AMericans having numerous dances. The average is two dances, I am told. And further, the guys are mentioning they will take US$'s repeatedly!

That may change when the US$ drops more and the CD$ buys more.

 

 

:7

[Guest zipperzone]

A further note re dollar parity.

 

I've been looking around at new cars lately. I have my sights set on a new Lexus. Made in Japan and imported into the US as well as Canada.

 

The model I am interested in sells in Canada for 89K - the identical model, equipped the same way sells in the US for 65K.

 

I just can't get my head around the fact that it would cost me 24K more to buy one here. To my way of thinking they should both be the same price if the US & Can dollar are at par. When I ask the salesman why the differance, he just shrugs his shoulders and says "that's the way it is".

 

Some Canadians are going across the border to Bellingham in Washington state to buy an imported car due to their being considerably cheaper. But.... some manufacturers - Toyota for one, have issued instructions that their American dealers are forbidden to sell cars to Canadians.

 

I'd love to tell them to go f themselves, but what good would it do?

 

We have the same problem to a lesser degree with books. I am a big time reader and probably buy on average 2 - 3 books a week. The majority are from American publishers. A book that has the US price on the jacket of say, $30, is priced here at around $42. I still fork over the money but it does bug the hell out of me.

 

I have recently started buying most of my books through Amazon. Not only do I get them at a discounted price - I get the prevailing bank exchange rate for the day they are purchased, which at this point in time is at par. Too bad Amazon doesn't sell cars!

 

OK - that's my rant for this week - feeling better now....

[Guest zipperzone]

>Zipper--

>You are absolutely right. I live near an outlet mall and many

>bus tours bring people from Canada to shop. There is NO place

>for tourists to exchange money, and the shops will accept

>Canadian money, but grumble about it,

 

Hey Sam - I would assume from what you write that you are close to the Canadian border. I can understand merchants taking Can $$ in cases like that but what I had in mind was the reaction I would get if I happened to present Can $$ in a place such as Texas, or Mississippi, or Georgia and expect them to be accepted. I think I would be in for a great surprise - if not locked up on suspicion of being a terrorist.

[Samai139]

You're right---dancers and stores are two different situations. What I meant, and didn't say very well, was that Americans, in general, tend to think that the dollar (ours) should be not only universally accepted, but should be worth more than others. I was reacting to the original post, and even though I can get less with my US dollars than I could 5 or 10 years ago, that's just the way the economic situation is NOW. If the US dollar is worth, say 10 cents less than the Canadian, I wonder if the dancers in Montreal will still be saying they will accept US dollars in the lap dance area? If they will, I'll definitely pay them with US twenties, and not exchange very much on my next trip.

[Samai139]

I don't live that close to the Canadian border---about two hours on a good day--but for some reason the Outlet Mall is popular with these tour buses from Canada. Many originate in Toronto and southern Ontario and include tourists from outside Canada---I'm guessing. One explanation may be that taxes in New York might be lower than in Ontario?? As strange as that might be!!

I agree that any Canadian traveling in the US would have trouble if he/she tried to pay for something with Canadian currency!! You wouldn't have to travel as far as Texas or Mississippi---if you travel in Upstate/Western New York and try to use Canadian currency--even coins above a quarter, you are looked at with a bewildered look and refused!! There are signs on the toll roads saying Canadian currency is not accepted. I wonder if things will change now that it's possible that the Candian dollar may be worth more than the US dollar?

[KMEM]

I can remember during my life time when the Canadian dollar was worth 1.05 US. Looks like it will be again.

 

Two reasons (in addition to misplaced pride)people in the US won't take Canadian dollars. One, over the years vending machines have had a lot of mechanical problems because of Canadian coins; different weight, different size, etc. and, two, clerks in stores can't make change for a dollar now; you expect them to deal with another currency? A lot of counterfeit US bills get by them as it is; so you want them to be trained on Canadian? As I wrote before, the clerks cannot make change; watch the next time you are getting change; they look at the register to see how much they should tender back. Good luck if you give them a US half dollar coin. There is no place in the drawer for it and many won't even know what denomination it is. We won't go into dollar coins. No hope.

 

I know I am presenting an object lesson about how poorly our schools "don't" teach; I suppose next after a basic degree in, "Do you want fries with that?" we will have advanced degrees in money identification and giving correct change.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[eeyore]

Thought this might be of interest...

 

From page one of today’s Wall Street Journal:

 

"Canada Is Giddy

About the Loonie

And Twitting U.S.

Currency Parity Is a Point

Of Pride, but Americans

Won't Like the Prices

By DOUGLAS BELKIN and JOANNA SLATER

September 22, 2007"

 

“With the Canadian dollar surging against the U.S. greenback, Robert Katzman is dealing with situations they don't teach in Economics 101.

 

The owner of five strip clubs in Detroit and Windsor, Ontario, says American dancers are heading to Canada to earn the strengthened Canadian currency, and Canadian customers are heading to Detroit because their dollars go further there. He's fighting back by advertising more in the U.S. and offering free limo service to get Detroit men to visit his Windsor clubs.”

 

You can read the full article at:

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119041481165735806.html?mod=hpp_us_pageone

[Guest zipperzone]

I can recall a few years ago when the Can $ was worth about 80 cents US, some businesses in Washington State were advertising "Canadian dollars accepted at par, in an obvious effort to attract more business from Canada.

 

If I had been a US resident, I would have been royally pissed off as in effect, they were offering a discount to Canadians that was not being offered to their home market.

[Guest PWIT]

>I can recall a few years ago when the Can $ was worth about

>80 cents US, some businesses in Washington State were

>advertising "Canadian dollars accepted at par, in an obvious

>effort to attract more business from Canada.

>

>If I had been a US resident, I would have been royally pissed

>off as in effect, they were offering a discount to Canadians

>that was not being offered to their home market.

 

Why be pissed? Could have converted US to Canadian dollars and enjoyed the same deal.

[Guest zipperzone]

>Why be pissed? Could have converted US to Canadian dollars

>and enjoyed the same deal.

 

You're brilliant - never thought of that, but it seems like a lot of extra work....

[+ Lucky]

For anyone wondering, I went to the Bank Nationale and gave them $500 US and got $485 CDN. The hotel gives dollar for dollar though, and so does Stock bar. Used to be the hotel was the worst place to exchange.

 

The Black and Blue people are charging $100 for $90 CDN.

[BSR]

zipperzone, about your complaints about car pricing discrepancies ...

 

For years, when the Canadian dollar hovered around 60-something cents to the US$, Lexuses (Lexi?) and many other automobiles were less expensive in Canada than the US. If one uses the prices you listed but figured at the old exchange rate, $89K x .67 = ~$60K, compared to the $65K Americans had to pay.

 

And if you ever find yourself getting really ticked off, take a look at the price of your prescriptions. Even if you don't take any prescriptions, you likely have a loved one who does. The cost of bringing a drug to market is somewhere in the range of $500 million to $1 billion. A prescription my mother needs costs $900 a month Stateside. Because of Canadian government price controls (basically, the Canadian government tells the pharmaceutical company that they sell a drug for $X, or they don't sell it in Canada at all), the same drug is sold to the Canadian health care system for $28/month - a pricing structure similar to countless other prescription drugs. In other words, the enormous cost of developing new medicines is borne mostly by Americans. Canadians enjoy most of the benefits at very little cost.

 

The car pricing discrepancy (which went on for much longer than today's disparity) didn't cause much of a fuss south of the border. And I have never heard, not once, a Canadian express even a whit of gratitude for the enormous American "subsidy" to the Canadian health care system. By the way, my father's side of the family all live in Toronto, so I've spent a good deal of time in Canada. My mother's prescription is a medical necessity. Last I checked, a Lexus wasn't.

[Guest zipperzone]

>zipperzone, about your complaints about car pricing

>discrepancies ...

>

>For years, when the Canadian dollar hovered around

>60-something cents to the US$, Lexuses (Lexi?) and many other

>automobiles were less expensive in Canada than the US. If one

>uses the prices you listed but figured at the old exchange

>rate, $89K x .67 = ~$60K, compared to the $65K Americans had

>to pay.

 

Sorry, but I think you're wrong here. Cars, both imported and domestic have always been cheaper in the USA. As an avid reader of American car mags (Motor Trend, Road & Track etc) I have always checked out the prices their reviews quoted and they have unfailingly been cheaper. The origin of the car didn't seem to make any differance. Mercedes got the same treatment as the Japanese.

 

 

>Because of Canadian

>government price controls (basically, the Canadian government

>tells the pharmaceutical company that they sell a drug for $X,

>or they don't sell it in Canada at all), the same drug is sold

>to the Canadian health care system for $28/month - a pricing

>structure similar to countless other prescription drugs. In

>other words, the enormous cost of developing new medicines is

>borne mostly by Americans. Canadians enjoy most of the

>benefits at very little cost.

 

I think this really should be a seperate discussion as it has nothing to due with currency exchange rates.

 

>The car pricing discrepancy (which went on for much longer

>than today's disparity)

 

Wrong - please see above.

 

And I have never heard, not once, a Canadian

>express even a whit of gratitude for the enormous American

>"subsidy" to the Canadian health care system.

 

I'd be more than willing to thank you if it would make you feel any better. I frankly dodn't even know if what you said about our government is true - frankly I never thought about it - but you have aroused my curiosity and I will read up on it.

 

>By the way, my

>father's side of the family all live in Toronto, so I've spent

>a good deal of time in Canada.

 

OK - but does this impact on any of the above two topics?

 

>My mother's prescription is a

>medical necessity. Last I checked, a Lexus wasn't.

 

I couldn't agree more, but once again I don't think the two subjects are related. I can understand that you may feel bitter about the cost of your Mother's medication, but please don't dump on Canadians just because we have a better (though far from perfect) health system.

[+ purplekow]

>

>Hey Sam - I would assume from what you write that you are

>close to the Canadian border. I can understand merchants

>taking Can $$ in cases like that but what I had in mind was

>the reaction I would get if I happened to present Can $$ in a

>place such as Texas, or Mississippi, or Georgia and expect

>them to be accepted. I think I would be in for a great

>surprise - if not locked up on suspicion of being a

>terrorist.

 

In some of those states only confederate money is accepted.

 

I have never seen a purplekow;

I never hope to see one;

I can tell you anyhow;

I'd rather see than be one

 

Help there is a purplekow in my mirror

[Luv2play]

Well, time changes everything! It wasn't so long ago that the Canadian dollar was the 98 pound weakling. No more. Who knows how long it will last but right now it is trading above the US dollar and the last time that happened was in 1976, the US bicentenial year (I remember because I spent three weeks in July 1976 travelling around the Eastern US states and having a blast).

 

The other day I looked at real estate notices for Florida in a Montreal paper and the prices were either in dollars (not specified) or Canadian dollars! Before this year, they were always quoted in US dollars. How times have changed. If this keeps up, you won't be able to give away the greenback. Junk currency, like some US credit notes. Nobody wants them anymore.

 

BTW, when the Canadian dollar was around 62 cents American , Canadian cars were cheaper than American cars, I remember when the Ford Thunderbird of 2002 was cheaper in Canada by thousands of dollars;Americans were flocking here to buy it. Zipper is off base on this.

[BSR]

Zipperzone, you're quite anti-American, aren't you? I get that sense from your nasty little reply about dancers accepting US$. The analogy you used, in an attempt to underscore American "arrogance" (oh, if only I had a buck for every time I heard a Canadian accuse us Americans of arrogance - I could buy a helluva lot more than a Lexus), turned out to be off the mark. As other posters pointed out, stores and dancers are two very different economic entities, and apparently there are plenty of dancers who do indeed accept US$.

 

Like I said, I've spent plenty (far too much, unfortunately) time in Toronto, and I also deal with quite a few Canadians on my job. About 90% of them seem to be pretty OK with Americans, or at least don't make any broad sweeping generalizations about us. The other 10% flat-out drip hostility for America and Americans. Oh sure, they're oh so painstakingly polite, because Canadians so smugly pride themselves on being such a **polite** country, but their anti-Americanism oozes from their pores.

 

If an American ever boasted to a Canadian about our superior healthcare system (e.g., we have a 57% recovery rate from breast cancer in the US versus ~25% in Canada, Bill Clinton would have died under the Canadian healthcare system but is alive and kicking thanks to the quick intervention he received in the US; wealthy foreigners from all over the world - and that includes plenty of Canadians - come to the US for healthcare ... I could go on and on with examples), that of course would be arrogant. But you feel free to make such a claim. After all, how can a **polite** Canadian be arrogant?

 

The point I was trying to make, but was hesitant to do so, was to shut the F*CK up if you have to pay a wittle mowe fow youw wittle Wexus. Try to remember that your socialist healthcare is being subsidized to the tune of billions of dollars by us Americans. Try to remember that your other socialist ways were subsidized to the tune of billions and BILLIONS of dollars during the Cold War. Canada's defense spending as a percent of GDP was puny relative to America's during the Cold War because you knew we would protect the continent. I don't expect gratitude, far from it. But is too much to ask that the country that benefits so enormously from America NOT turn around and defecate on America and Americans? Actually, wanna complain about your more-expensive-in-Canada Lexus? Go ahead, complain away. But please, PLEASE take your anti-Americanism and shove it up your smug, ungrateful Canadian a**.

[Luv2play]

I don't accept that Canadians are being subsidized by America because of their outrageous spending on military arms. The US spends more on arms than all the rrest of the world COMBINED! It is a war machine run amok and now they are waging war against anyone they don't like. This madness will end some day but it may not be pretty.

 

Here in Canada, we prefer to spend our money on improving people's lives, not killing everyone we don't like.

[BSR]

If you bothered to read my post, you would know that I was referring specifically to the decades of the Cold War. As a percentage of GDP, your country spent almost nothing on national defense because you knew the US would protect the continent. But you twisted what I said and used it as just another opportunity to defecate on Americans. Ah, our <drip sarcasm>good neighbors to the North</drip sarcasm>.