That would be the case if they hadn't outsourced their service sectors to India and manufacturing to China. I can name only three or four industrial sectors that the US actively net exports (of course there are more): weapons, Hollywood, cars, and computers. (Edit: and I'm not even sure how much weaponry the US exports either.)

Perhaps the border cities are covering it better.
http://archives.seattletimes.nwsourc...4&query=canada
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...bparity20.html


One can argue on the other hand that the USD is already (even) artificially overvalued as it is (or was) seen as the world's reserve currency.

"The Canadian dollar Canadian Dollar crept just above the $1 level in morning trading, rising as high as C$0.9996 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0004, before easing."

Faster than any of the "economic experts" predicted.

Those BOSE QC2 headphones are looking more and more attractive as a purchase on my upcoming trip to LAS. I'll save $100 by buying in the US (US$299 vs. CAD$399), maybe even more if the dollar goes above par by the time I'm there!!!

Start shopping!!! It is now above the USD. If the USD = CAD, would there be any impact with an introduction of a common currancy?

Um yes?? Just because they're equal today doesn't mean they're equal tomorrow.

My money (literally) is on the USD continuing to depreciate against the CAD in the short to medium term. Why do I want a common currency when I'm forecasting 1 CAD = 1.05 USD in the next 6-12 months?

here in Canada???
Oh that's right, retailers haven't passed on any of the cost reductions, just padding the profits, which leads me to cheer anyone that heads for the border and shops in the US.
You watch, the dollar will eventually swing back to say 1.10 (not for a while) and when it does, everyone including supermarket chains will be crying as they raise prices to compensate for the rise in exchange. Pathetic!
I spoke to one restaurateur who freely admitted that even though his liquor costs had come down he was not passing the costs onto the consumer. Even the LCBO here in Ontario has reduced prices but not proportionally.
They had a story on the news today about a brand new Lexus RX350, fully loaded, there was a cost savings of $18,000 by buying in the US. Those are big ticket items that are not easily corrected at retail, if they dropped the price of a new car that much what would a used one be worth and most would have loans or leases extended beyond the reduced equity.
Fun stuff, as I get paid in USD I find it particularly bothersome! However I will be buying everything in the US now, maybe even plane tickets! :-)

One positive note is that hotel points will now be converted at par. Most hotel reward programs pay 10 points per US$ spent!

On a not so good note, our manufacturing sector will suffer considerably. Many of my customers are already looking at outsourcing some of their production to the US and other countries as they can no longer be competitive. This will probably be a very unpopular view, but I think it would be much better for our economy if the Cdn dollar stayed at .85 or lower.

Which makes us frequent travellers that much more advantaged, in our ability and tendency to travel? I have nary an issue with this... it gives me a reasonable commission when I buy stuff for friends.

Keep in mind in some cases (certainly not all) retailers are sourcing out their merchandise up to 12 months in advance. It's not unusual for large retailers to already be buying next years holiday items at negotiated bulk rates. This simply means a little patience is needed as some stores did pay a higher exchange rate months ago for the product that is in their stores now.

My thinking is that this will even out in about 4 to 6 months and then we will be seeing much more of the savings based on today's dollar.

I like the way the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission solved it for us. The toll used to be $2.50 US, $3.50 CDN. Based on the rise in the C$ in the spring, the commission raised the US charge to $3.00, attributing it to the decline of the US$. So when they reach par, the NFBC will reward us by raising the US$ toll to $3.50 instead of decreasing the C$ rate. Then when the C$ goes down, they will raise the C$ toll to compensate for the decline. An endless source of inflation for those who have a monopoly.

I'd wager that US inflation will eat most of that. Stores already know we'll pay whatever it is we're paying now... they'll just keep the profits instead.

And now the Canuckbuck has blipped over par vs the US for the first time in more than 3 decades. Settled back to a mere 0.9917. Will make me do some shopping if it remains when i go to Vegas. Unfortunately, the countries I'll definitely be visiting in South American have slipped only slightly against the $CDN - meaning no bargains. The only exception is Argentine, but I'm not assured of going.

Darn.

Unfortunately, inflation in Argentina is rife so whatever bargains there were due to depreciation have largely been lost.