Parity

[AChimp]

$1 US = $1 CDN

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/09/20/canadiandollar.html

:O

[Preechr]

Good for you!

Too bad for my gay friends that are coming to Vancouver in a week to get married, but good for you!

They figure they'll spend about 20% more than they'd planned.

[Esuohlim]

Oh yeah well at least our money doesn't have birds on it haha America wins again :picklehat :thesecolorsdontrun

Oh wait :(

[AChimp]

The newspapers today are filled with price comparisons between Canada and the U.S. and how much money you can save on things by going south, even after paying for gas and duty fees.

Retailers here are greedy. >:

[mburbank]

I read this thread because I thought it said

pair of titties.

[AChimp]

I can pay to see a pair of titties in the US now without having to worry about exchange rates.

[Perndog]

I like Canadian money because they're smart enough to use coins that are actually worth something. Damn this American paper cash. >:

[Miss Modular]

I guess this means that Hollywood won't be shooting [insert US City here] scenes in Toronto anymore. :tear

[GADZOOKS]

I like Canadian money because they're smart enough to use coins that are actually worth something. Damn this American paper cash. >:

I'm guessing you got a coin purse for Christmas. I for one can't wait for all coins to be abolished from currency. Their jingling in my pocket always attracts homeless people to ask me for money. If I buy something for $3.08 or some odd amount of coins, they will just take the three and tell me not to worry about it. And those dollar coins are a real nightmare in which some idiot at the register accused me of forgery for pulling out those Sacajaweas I got from a vending machine. Ugh!

Coins stink! Paper Rules! The next best thing would be a finger scan that is directed to your bank account. That would be hard to top!

[AChimp]

Paper money is stupid because you can't use it reliably in vending machines. It's such a pain in the ass to try to feed a bill to one of those scanner things, only to have it spit it back out because the bill is all mangled and shit.

And all US money is the same colour so I have to actually look at the numbers when paying for something. Multi-coloured bills help handi-capped people!

[AChimp]

Finger scans would be pretty sweet, though.

[El Blanco]

Paper money is stupid because you can't use it reliably in vending machines. It's such a pain in the ass to try to feed a bill to one of those scanner things, only to have it spit it back out because the bill is all mangled and shit.

And all US money is the same colour so I have to actually look at the numbers when paying for something. Multi-coloured bills help handi-capped people!

Like blind people?

[AChimp]

Canadian bills have little plastic Braille symbols embedded in them. You can still feel them even if the bill is kinda crumpled up.

[El Blanco]

Hopefully, if the North American Union comes to fruition, we'll have you yokels using our money so you can know what real currency is all about.

[AChimp]

$1.00 CDN = $1.02 US

:eek

[Chojin]

Dollars and coins are both stupid, credit is where it's at :eek

[Chojin]

Also, I can't wait until currency is actually called 'credits', that will totally make me day and I'll watch blade runner all day long in celebration

[AChimp]

It would be totally cool if our currency was spice.

[Chojin]

I keep thinking this thread is called 'Party', and I'm always like ALL RIGHT

[ItalianStereotype]

Hopefully, if the North American Union comes to fruition, we'll have you yokels using our money so you can know what real currency is all about.

the federal reserve is already talking about distribution of the "amero," since mexico would be bringing their rainbow toilet paper to the party as well

[KevinTheOmnivore]

I learned this week that facebook is the top website in Canada.



I think that negates the whole parity thing with the dollar.

[AChimp]

$1.00 CDN = $1.04 US

:eek

I'm going to order a million things online before this thing is done.

[Esuohlim]

I don't care what you say I'll still throw your money in the trash can when I get it back as change

[Kulturkampf]

The newspapers today are filled with price comparisons between Canada and the U.S. and how much money you can save on things by going south, even after paying for gas and duty fees.

Retailers here are greedy. >:

Actually, it's because socialism really sucks!

We are not propping up a nationalized medical system. :)

We have a huge economy w/ less regulation. Free market rocks.

Plus, you guys do not have a large diversity of natural resources; there are many white collar economic refugees in Asia teaching English (tens of thousands of Canadians) because there are no real jobs in Canada.

People with college degrees are waiters in Canada (!!!).

Your country sucks dicks.

[Chojin]

Whereas the people with college degrees here are unemployed, THE WAY GOD INTENDED.

[KevinTheOmnivore]

Your country sucks dicks.

Which doesn't even pay well in Cananda, I hear.

[Kulturkampf]

AT lesser rates than those of the Canadians one would presume by the vast amounts of those who come overseas as economic refugees, fleeing Arbys.

[AChimp]

This is funny because my dollar is worth more than yours, which means I can afford more Arby's. :)

[Kulturkampf]

But can you get a good job with which to use your dollar? Soon you will be an economic refugee unless you start logging.

[AChimp]

Actually, I probably make more than you as a software developer. :)

PS. I have a university degree (not a sad two-year state college degree), but don't tell anyone because they might fire me. :chatter

[AChimp]

$1.00 CDN = $1.05 US

Up and up and up!

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/10/29/loonie.html

A bunch of big chain stores have also been announcing lately that they'll be lowering prices to match US prices, mostly due to them shitting their pants about losing business to people driving south for a couple hours or ordering online.

Some stores in the US are also complaining that they're getting warnings from US manufacturers to not sell to Canadians who are coming for cheaper prices. There's certain models of vehicles that are like $10,000 cheaper in North Dakota. The obvious answer is that the US auto industry is propping up Canadian healthcare!

So much for the free market.

[El Blanco]

I don't know how much you can make of that. People all the time jump state borders to get better prices. Before New York City dropped the tax on clothing (which the rest of the state never did), it was common for people to drive into New Jersey (which didn't have the tax) to buy clothes.

I knew a guy in college whose family drove to Michigan so they could save $20k on an SUV. I know people that still go down South for cars.

[AChimp]

The main complaint has to do with mature market products. A few years ago when our dollar was $0.62 US, stores were all raising prices since importing goods was so much more expensive (transportation costs, etc).

Now that the dollar is around parity, prices on all of these things have stayed at the "making up for the high cost of importing" level. The cost of importing goods has gone down as the dollar has risen, so the extra amount that consumers are paying is pure profit.

The common excuse for the last year or so has been to do with inventory stocks. The idea is that stores paid $X for the product sitting in the warehouse and are going to charge $Y for them. This makes sense until you realize that all of this inventory has turned over in the warehouses several times since retailers made this excuse, all while the cost of importing has gone down. Smart stores don't even keep huge inventories on hand anymore as the use of JIT delivery methods has become more widespread.

This isn't just a case of a few stores charging more; prices are pretty even across the board, either, and the answer isn't as simple as "just don't shop there." Most Canadian cities have 2-3 major retail chains where a US city will have 4-5 (the difference is usually made up by regional chains). The population and demographics can't support that many businesses... think of US towns where all they have is a Wal-Mart.

Overall, the general feeling is that many manufacturers are milking consumers and inflating prices unfairly due to lower revenue in the US. A lot of manufacturers will go to great lengths to maintain their market share in the US, even to the point of selling products at a loss, because they know they can make it up by charging more in other countries.

And so we order stuff online and pay the difference to Fedex. :)

[AChimp]

$1.00 CDN = $1.07 US

New post-war high :eek

[Emu]

So are we rapidly moving to become Canada's Mexico or what