It’s been long enough since my last post that I really should post again. It’s also 11:30 and I really should go to sleep. Tomorrow’s Monday and… well we all know what they say about Mondays and back to work.

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about the possibility of a recession.  It’s odd because the media seems to flip-flop between “yes, we’re in one” and “no, we’re not in one.”  It all seems to depend on what website I’m reading for that day.  I’ve been watching the reports about the Fed lowering interest rate.  A lot would think that’s a good thing.  But honestly, though I understand what they’re trying to do, they are making a big mistake.  The price of everything is going up because the American dollar is weakening against foreign currency. 

 When I lived in Vermont, Canadians would come south to shop, even with the exchange rate, they were getting a better deal in the US because of the GST (sales tax).  Now, $1 CN is roughly equivalent to $1.02 US.  That’s the closest I’ve ever seen it.  In 1998, $1 CN was roughly 70 cents US.  That’s the earliest I can find data for, but that’s about what it was in 1992 when I was working retail. 

 Foreign bond investors are no longer buying US bonds because the US Treasury is pretty much making its own money to try to stave off the problems with the “housing bubble” collapse and the attendant problems with the banks.  The US dollar is in free-fall and all the Federal Reserve wants to do is make sure that the banks don’t go under.   

 The problem remains larger than just the US though.  The world economy is going to go through some tough times while the markets “reset” to where they should be if it hadn’t been for this “housing bubble”

 Maybe it’s time to get a farm and start growing my own food. More on that later.