US DOLLAR = 2.47 on 2 Oct 2008?

ZD, take a look at this article. Its a few years ago, but a good point is made here:


yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=3231

I dunno. If they were so good I'm puzzled as to why American car industry practically lost to Japan, Germany and Korea?


He's as much Jewish as he is Irish.
He was raised as a Catholic.


That article makes sense and I am very much aware of the reasons for outsourcing. My post was kinda tongue in cheek.

Still, I have to wonder, what does "the best workers" mean?
Does it mean Polish immigrants or Mexican illegals?

i don't know how you feel about unions (mainly uaw) but this isn't really the thread or maybe it is.. maybe the qualifier on productivity has to be "when actually working". lol

good find shopgirl. the US has always had the wild west thing going and everything here is $ driven. everything.. that's the big reason for what's going on right now. the problem is that everything is being outsourced outta here and shrubco really drained america, big time. :( bill maher said something about education on all his other points were pretty spot on.

personal opinion why america will be back on top soon enough: americans can work together better then the germans. there is no one that can out do america if america gets serious. the problem may be that america is dumbing down and maybe the ballance is shifting and the new generation will never step up like the older ones did.. we shall see.. if mac/lipstick win, game over and USA will officially suck. i may be out of here in a year or two. wheels are in motion. hehe

pretty ambivalent. there are good sides and terrible sides in unions.

One example about workers in GM (true story): a friend's son got an intern job at GM. The first day he was shown how to sabotage machines so that workers could get extended breaks.

This "best worker" or "greatest country on earth" is for the bin!
And everybody with a common sense knows that...but it should help to make Americans feel better and maybe they will vote for McCain then...

It's a another strategy as to point to problems and to say that something has to be done, that things aren't so great anymore....but maybe it works....again....

do tell more. per capita? per gdp?

america is hell of a consumer. in america the $ rules. if it's cheaper from china, then that's where it's coming from. that doesn't mean they are more productive, just cheaper. quality is not really america's trademark.


i sure hope so.


well, i think that's what killed detroit. i've been inside ford, gm and am general [when it was independent] and it was unbelievable how things worked. out of those 3, am gen. actually did work but quotas were stiflingly low.

i actually was in a union for a period of time (construction) and i feel it wasn't as bad as uaw but still stifling and draining on the process. pretty good for the workers but not really that good for the customer's bottom line.

I think Americans have an interesting ability to overcome obstacles when united in a cause....maybe in a way that other peoples don't.....but they have to be spurred on, and it helps to have solid leadership.

We just haven't had that leadership.
I am glad to see a concensus developing in the US to get control of the greed at the helm of our corporations. I caught a lit bit of the oversight hearing, grilling the CEO of Lehman Brothers. It was a beautiful thing.

german-info.com/press_shownews.php?pid=84

that still doesn't mean that D is the most productive, it means it's the most creative or smart combining productivity, product etc.. to make the mark. but i have not said nor will i that germans are lazy. i will say that about americans.

you mentioned freedom somewhere earlier: american freedom is it's own brand. i am still puzzled sometimes at it. it's not the same as in EU. i believe that working less etc is real freedom but that is not how it's quantified here. the one with most "toys" wins here. quality of life is different here. the freedom here means anything goes not that you have more quality time necessarily. wild west kinda thing.


yeah but it's all a big mess. i think it's all corruption. the whole thing.. the whole government is a big mess, the corps.. just electing obama will not do it. i don't think he'll be able to reign in the congress or v. a. v. pelosi sucks. america is desperately in need of total purge and a third party. the two party system is just not balanced enough and the swings are just too great for these times. like i said before, if mac/lipstick get in, hope is dashed.

but the "together we shall overcome" mentality of america is freaking awesome. :)

I think life is more expensive here. There is less free time.
In Europe more businesses are closed Sundays, holidays, and not "open all night". Here we have so many cities that never sleep, 24 hour operations......no rest for consumers or the weary.

yeah but life is way easier and cheaper here, imho.

my city, even though pretty large, just outside top 10, seems to 'die out' pretty early but it still hums all night. busy, busy, busy bees. america never sleeps. :)

Have you been to Europe?
Try France. Norway. Heck, try UK.


Some stores are open 24/7 but in general I think it's an tad oversized myth.

Americans who've never lived there think it's Valhalla.. it's not. It's ridiculously expensive and the law of diminishing returns eventually kicks in it comes castles and bier halls. What's a decent steak run in a grocery store? $22 or something.

There's often a subdued, lethargic feel to Europe..

I thought Poland had a low cost of living?
Isn't it considered part of Europe?

the cost of living in poland is not cheap for the average pole. especially housing costs

One way to benefit is to be able to have a foot in more than one country. I have noticed this from some of the Poles in the UK. Earn some money here, buy some stuff that's cheaper here, then go back to Poland where other stuff costs less and those earnings go further. I'm stuck in the UK permenantly, so my wages are good in international standards, but that doesn't help me, living where everything is expensive.

I am now in the process of buying myself a kalimba (small African musical instrument) over the internet from the great US of A. Assuming that $125 is pretty much a fixed price, I'm better off buying it now than I would have been a couple of years ago. (I'm looking at about £73 - maybe right now PLN is looking even better, but still compare that to level of Polish disposable income). However, I don't pay much attention to currency rates, and I'm far more interested in getting my hands on a natty new musical instrument.

But could I get the same thing from the UK? No. Germany? No. China? Certainly not. There are some things that some countries just seem to do better.

A word of warning, especially, but not just to Americans: don't be complacent. Complacency is not what got you or your country where you are today.

Dont worry about us we are resilient, America will prevail in the end.

I don't think Europeans (or Canadians) are worried about America. We're worried about how America's fvckups reflects on the rest of the world. After all, most of your country is owned by foreign interests, not by the US citizens who are in debt up to their eyeballs.

Its all you people ever talk about is...America
I think youre all just jealous because you cant live here


Not everybody is, I dont owe anybody money

your share of national debt prior to the bailout was already $80k.. i think that probably just doubled with that insane move.

lol.... not everybody wants to live in the us... it's not eden anymore, these times are long gone... cmon...


Americans do not own anything...but banks do...

Thread attached on merging:
$1 = 2.72 Z£

Today, 2lst October 2008, the złoty has dropped in value to 2.72 to the USD.
That is good news for outsiders coming to Poland, since their greenbacks will go a long way (last summer the USD dipped below 2 zł). But it is bad news for Poles who used to travel to the US for comparatively cheap computer and photo equipnment, bikes and even cars.

Anyone got a clue where this is all going? Will the dollar or złoty become stronger over the next six months?

Keep climbing baby!!!!

Daddy needs a new pair of shoes!

Sounds good to me, I think I`ll be going there in late spring for a few weeks:)