Let us pause for a moment to mourn the dollar.
Financially, it has been a rough semester to be abroad in Europe. The last time I traveled (and even until this past summer), the exchange rate never went above 1.33 USD for 1 Euro. When we arrived in Vienna in early January 2008, it had risen to about 1.40 USD per euro. In those short three months since then, the strength of the dollar has fallen dramatically.
The exchange rate is currently at 1.59 dollars per euro. Due to hit 1.60 any day now.
From a student’s perspective, living in a city that relies on cash rather than plastic, this thirty cent change makes a drastic difference. Items remain priced pretty much consistently (0,49 cents for the cheapest small loaf of bread, 1,19 for a liter of milk, 1,90 for a basic cup of coffee, etc). But now multiply that amount by 1.59. That's how much it costs in USD. And don't get me started on the cost of meat. A six-pack of chicken filets can cost nearly 14€-- that's more than $22 for chicken!!! Luckily, I have learned to shop around carefully and get better deals and eat a lot of pork (the most inexpensive meat here because it is most easily available). This is especially painful when considering the cost of traveling--even prices that might seem cheap in Euros actually end up very expensive in dollars. *sigh*
The pound/dollar exchange rate remains one of the worst (2.01 USD for 1 GBP) but at least this rate is constant. The Euro is appreciating as the dollar is quickly depreciating, and Americans in Europe are left in the middle, scrambling for spare change. With no end in sight.
50 Page Friday: The Abyss Beyond Dreams
10 years ago
1 comment:
yay we screwed up the economy! and we aren't even really doing anything constructive about it, we're working on not letting everything go straight to hell instead, and spending bajillions of dollars on political campaigns. i feel like a hypocrite because barack's my homeboy, but he is going through a LOT of money.
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