The Citizen, 2002-01-09, Page 5Little change here
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Why didn't I think of that?
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 2002. PAGE 5.
There's an old (albeit ungrammatical)
saying that goes: there is nothing so
powerful as an idea who's time has
come.
Too true.
Great notions are exceedingly rare, but
overpowering in their impact. Only once in an
excruciatingly long while does a tiny
fleck of gold trickle through the moraine of
overburden that is life and crystallize into an
idea.
An idea that, once recognized, we can't
believe we ever lived without.
I don't mean grandiose propositions like the
Pythagorean Theorem, polio vaccine_ or the
microchip.
I'm talking about the teensy-weensy, non-
explosive but pivotal ideas that change our
lives forever. Ideas like the barbed fishhook.
Beer. The bicycle. Call Display.
I'll tell you one other great idea - the one that
came one day to Ramon Stoppelenburg.
Ramon is a guy in his 20s who lives in The
Netherlands. Like a lot of adventurous ,20-
soniethings, Ramon had a fierce, unsatiated
desire to travel, to see the world.
Unfortunately, like a lot of 20-somethings in
this McDonaldized world, Ramon didn't have
the wherewithal to get out of town, much less
cruise around the planet.
Which is where Ramon's great idea kicks in.
One day, while cruising the net, Ramon came
across a website called sendmeadollar.com.
Wsome
henever the Canadian dollar does
•
thing that catches everybody's
attention, I feel like the Oracle of
Delphi.
This oracle, you will recall, was located in
ancient Greece and was called upon to predict
the future and did so in rather enigmatic ways.
I, too, am supposed to do the same for all
those who come to ask what is happening to
our dollar and, furthermore, where it will go in
the future.
Well, I could be enigmatic as well and
predict that the dollar will go down, unless, of
course, it goes up. That will sound like what a
lot of economists are saying; this is their way
of admitting that they really don't know.
But, then who does? Even the famous oracle
would have trouble with our currency.
Anyway let's get back to the subject. What a
lot of people are really asking for is an easy
explanation of what's going. They don't want
any confusing economic jargon, just words that
they can understand.
Let's see if I can do that for you.
The Canadian dollar is what is called a
floating currency; that is, its value is
determined daily by the simple law of supply
and demand. If the demand for the currency on
international money marketsis greater than the
supply of it, then the value goes up. If the
opposite is true, it goes down. Something
similar goes on with the stock markets.
The dollar is normally expected to float
without any government interference. This is
called a clean float. However, if the
government (i.e. the Bank of Canada) decides
to enter the markets and buy or self Canadian
dollars to influence its value, this is called a
dirty float. The bank isn't happy with the
suggestion it is doing something dirty so the
bank calls it a managed or controlled float.
Let's assume that the government stays out
of the market. What are the things that cause a
demand for our dollar?
For openers other countries buy our products
and have to pay for them. There is also tourism,
investment, transportation costs and various
services that Canadians provide.
On the opposite side we need foreign
currency to pay for our - imports, our trips
abroad as tourists, investment, transportation
costs and services which foreign countries
Arthur
Black
(Another great idea - some nerdy layabout
puts his name and address on the website and
asks everyone to send him a buck. Even if only
one out of a hundred browsers respond
positively, said layabout is not going to be
washing dishes for a living.)
But I digress," The point is, Ramon wasn't
looking for a free ride - just a cheap one.
So he set up his own website entitled:
www.letmestayforaday.com.
The concept was simple. If you agreed to put
up Ramon for a day - wherever in the world
you lived - Ramon would show up, be
gracious, not ask for extra bath towels, and
more important - he would post the details of
his stay with you on the aforementioned
website.
And not just bare bones, been-here, did such-
and-such stuff. Ramon maintains a log on his
website where he writes extensively about all
the places he fetches up at. He writes about the
castle in northern Ireland where he had to
trudge 15 minutes just to find the loo. He also
chronicles the tiny, one-room bachelor flat in
Raymond
Canon
The
International
Scene
render to us.
Add these two sides up and the result will tell
you which is greater — our demand for foreign
currency or foreign demand for our currency.
If only it were that simple!
However, there are any number of outside
influences that can push our dollar up or down.
One is our federal government whose yearly
budget gives us and the financial markets some
idea of which direction Ottawa is going. Then
there is the Bank of Canada itself which, while
it has a large amount of independence, can
influence the exchange rate by keeping its
interest rate higher, lower or the same as those
rates south of the border, thus causing money
to flow in and out.
One thing that keeps cropping up is the fact
that money markets still consider Canada to be
a resource-based economy. When the prices of
these resources drop, as they have over the past
few years, this tends to push the value of our
dollar downward.
Politicians can talk all they want about the
"economic fundamentals" being sound. Such
talk does not carry much weight with traders
on money markets. How many times have you
heard that the dollar would rise to 70 cents,
only to see it go in the opposite direction?
Finally, what I think is the biggest single
cause of our currency falling in value is the fact
that the American dollar is considered a vehicle
or reserve currency. This means that when the
world finds itself in something of a pickle,
Canadian corporations and anybody else
holding a lot of spare cash rush to buy the U.S.
dollar since it is perceived to be the only port in
a storm.
You guessed it! Down goes the Canadian
dollar and since there always seems to be
something wrong with the world, our downs
are much more frequent and prolonged than
ou r ups.
Paris where a virtually impoverished woman
welcomed him in and insisted that he share her
meal of beef stew. Even `though she owned
but one shallow bowl.
So...is his idea a success?
Well...Ramon's website, at last check, was
registering Thirty THOUSAND hits per day.
All from people practically begging Ramon to
conic and stay with them. It's become so
intense that now you have to compose a really,
really excellent e-mail to convince Ramon it's
worth his while to stay with you.
At your expense.
Ramon went on line with
LETMESTAYFORADAY.COM just last year.
So far, Ramon has visited England, Ireland,
Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, Italy,
Belgium, Austria, Hungary, and South Africa.
His travel bill for this romp? Zero.
That's the other thing about Ramon. He
travels without cash or credit card, depending
utterly, a la Tennessee Williams, "on the
kindness of strangers."
His story has inspired admirers to sponsor
his travel between continents.
No staterooms or first-class lounges - just
economy ticket transportation.
And guess what - Ramon's got his sights set
on a trip across Canada in the near future.
Tell you what - if Ramon Stoppelenburg
makes it to my neck of the woods, I'd be
willing to put him up for a night.
How about you?
Is there a downside to all this? Of course
there is!
Just think of a situation in the early 1990s
when our currency was worth 80 cents U.S.,. it
cost $1,250 to pay for, say, a holiday in Florida.
Today, assuming that the holiday is the same
price in U.S. dollars, it would cost you $1,5$0.
Apply that to all the other transactions and I
think you get the point.
There you have it. A thumb-nail sketch but it
should, l hope, give you some idea of what is
happening to our dollar.
To paraphrase an old expression, we have to
run harder, it seems, just to stay in the same
place. Does that tell you something about how
hard we have to run as a nation to get ahead of
the Americans?
Letter
THE EDITOR,
Thanks a bunch from the Canadian Cancer
Society!
Our generous donors, volunteers and staff
represent a truly wonderful bunch of people.
Through their valiant efforts and support, the
Canadian Cancer Society is able to give hope
and inspiration to thousands of Canadians
living with cancer, their caregivers, family and
friends. Thanks to each and everyone of you,
we've been able to give cancer patients and
their loved ones the support and information
they need.
This is a remarkable time for cancer research
as well. In recent years,• new treatment
methods and diagnostic testing have
increasingly improved the quality of life and
rate of survival of people living with cancer.
In an effort to continue supporting
excellence in research, the Canadian Cancer
Society, the largest charitable fun&r of cancer
research in Canada, is leading the way to
support promising research projects that will
ultimately lead to prevention and cures.
Our accomplishments would never have
been possible without our generous
communities in Huron Perth, raising $700,000
together this year!
Ken Dale, President
Huron Perth Unit
Deborah Barton, Unit Manager.
Nothing's changed all that much. Oh,
there have been variations from time to
time, subtle alterations in thezdynamics
that pass barely noticed and on occasion a
greater occurrence, that we wonder may shift
things forever, but doesn't.
In a general sense, however, year in and year
out over the course of 25 of them, the scene has
remained familiar. Ten friends gather together.
They catch up on recent news, reminisce, share
inside jokes and laughter, kid and kibitz, eat
and drink. There is a level of comfort which
even to an outsider is perceptible, the security
that comes with being among people who have
known you so long, so well.
Since ushering in 1977 my husband and I
have spent our New Year's Eve in the company
of the same group of people. We take turns
hosting, we've altered the format from time to
time, but it is probably one of the most
predictable things in our life. It has been a
constant and we are blessed that through these
many years we continue to be able to celebrate
as we have always done.
Well, almost.
Let me take you back if I may to that first
New Year's Eve, a loud, boisterous, raucous
affair, emboldened by high spirits of both the
liquid and youthful variety.
It was the first time I had met the majority of
those present, who were longtime friends of my.
new beau. It was an evening I recall as one of
much laughter, much teasing, little seriousness.
There was dancing, loud music and more drink
than food. Counting down to the new year was
done with forceful optimism, a hearty welcome
to a promising beginning.
Fast forward to Dec. 31, 2001. These people,
once strangers to me, are dear friends now to
both my husband and myself. In contrast to that
first party, this evening was highlighted by
humour of a more self-deprecating nature as we
poked fun at the disintegration of mind and
body, No one thought of tripping the light
fantastic; weary souls who had worked that day
or were working the next seemed less intent on
kicking up their heels tian on kicking back.
After an almost elegant feast, spiced, with
conversation both light and heavy, the
remainder of the evening was occupied with
cards and conversation.
As midnight approached we converged
around the television and waited until, with
something best described as forced enthusiasm,
we perfunctorily donned silly hats, grabbed
noisemakers and began ticking off the seconds
to the start of another year. Then with good
wishes and kisses the ritual was complete.
And for a brief second there was a silence, a
moment in which we all took stock of the fact
that another year had come and gone. Can you
believe it's 2002, we asked each other? How
did we get here so fast? It seems like hardly any
time since we faced impending armageddon,
the doom of Y2K, as with mild unease we
approached the new millennium.
Almost equally swift has been the passage of
time since that first New Year's Eve party. In
that little heartbeat we almost can't believe it.
But there is proof in the quieter welcome we
send forth to greet Jan. 1. It is in the gentle,
though insistent reminders that we are just a
little slower, a little wearier.
What we lack in energy we make up for in
enthusiasm, however, carrying what began in
2001 well into the first day of 2002.
As I said, some things haven't changed.
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Canadian dollar hits the pits