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I always point to Canada's experience in the last 12 years. As As the CAD went from 0.60 USD to 1.00 USD, everyone was freaking that it would destroy our economy. During the rise of the CAD, income went up and unemployment went down. :)



We had this all before. When we had the Deutsche Mark, the German industry was as successful in exports as it is now.

One of the main problems of that time was changing currency values. The problem was not that the Deutsche Mark was high or low valued, it was more like the change was a problem. That made it difficult for companies to export. Large exporters were insuring themselves against currency value changes.

Basically a high valued currency made it cheap to import goods, energy and materials. A low valued currency makes these imports expensive. For example Germany imports most of its primary energy sources like oil. Devalue the currency makes the oil, gas and coal imports more expensive.

That the German industry depends or profits on a low-value currency is a myth. The Deutsche Mark was never low-value - just the opposite. Still exports were similar like they are today. The German exports will adapt.

The nice thing of the Euro is that the largest market for Germany is right around it and much of it is traded in Euros. This makes trading on variable currency values obsolete. This is the big win for German companies: it makes trading much easier and much less costly.


My sentiments are the same. Gyrations are bad, but slow relative appreciation or depreciation isn't all doom and gloom.




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