Word: dollar
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Inflation. When the dollar's value drops, the price of French wines, Japanese cameras and other foreign goods imported into the U.S. goes up. For example, the average cost of all Volkswagen models sold in the U.S. last year climbed almost 14%. Computer models of the economy indicate that at present levels increased prices for foreign goods directly add only .2 to .3 percentage points to the U.S. inflation rate. But some economists believe that the indirect impact is greater. Reason: if import prices rise, American companies can increase the price of domestically produced goods that compete against imports...
...Exports. In classic theory, a decline in the dollar makes American goods cheaper and therefore easier to sell in foreign markets. That does happen, but the benefits are smaller than is often supposed. Many of the products that the U.S. sells abroad are "price inelastic"; sales do not necessarily go up when the price goes down. The U.S. is a major exporter of commercial jet aircraft and computers. But overseas customers buy them on the basis of quality and need, not price. Much the same is true of another major U.S. export, agricultural goods. The quantity of wheat that American...
...Operations of multinational companies. They get some benefit from a weaker greenback because profits earned in, say, West German marks or Swiss francs are worth more dollars to be sent back to the parent company in dividends, though this can be offset by the greater dollar operating costs abroad. Also, American-owned multinationals have been slowing down investment abroad. One reason is the sluggishness of European and Japanese economies. The drop of the dollar has added another reason, by increasing the amount of dollars that multinationals must spend to build, buy or expand foreign factories. Weakened American investment abroad prolongs...
...Foreign investment in the U.S. Cheaper dollars have led European investors, particularly West Germans, to buy American properties at bargain rates. Says Zurich Real Estate Broker Richard Ufer: "Ten years ago every German millionaire wanted to own a jet. Now the status symbol is a farm in America." But as the dollar's value sinks, some foreign investors are having second thoughts; profits on their U.S. investments are earned in dollars that are worth a declining number of marks and Swiss francs. The possibility is growing that foreign investors will pull much of their capital...
...last week's drama of the dollar made clear, G. William Miller will be entering a political and economic minefield when he succeeds Arthur Burns as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board early next month. It will be largely up to Miller to make the tricky day-to-day decisions on when and how strongly to intervene in currency markets to keep the dollar from plunging too much lower. In that field, at least, the basic policy of intervening to stabilize the falling dollar has been set: but on domestic issues, the incoming chairman has no such clear guidelines...