The Dollar Equals the Loonie

You read that headline right — for the first time since 1976 the US dollar is the same amount of money as a quaint coin affectionately called 'the loonie'. You might know it as the Canadian dollar. In the not so distant past of 2002 the loonie was at an all time low against the dollar. So what happened?

Of course, there is the little fact that the fed just lowered the interest rate half a percent. Turns out that really puts off investors in the greenback on the international market. There are, of course, other possibilities. When the president doesn't speak proper English it tends to send bad vibes to trading partners. Also, we've poured countless billions into Iraq and borrowed enormous sums from the Chinese, which probably also doesn't get people excited about the dollar.

So, as Canada's currency has climbed along with their oil industry, the dollar has faltered, and now they are equal. On a side note, the president today called on Congress to spend less money on poor kids, then blamed congress for getting nothing done, right before threatening to veto the bill they are currently working on. From a president who regularly encourages wanton spending, that sounds like a double standard.