The lack of common sense applied to your arguments is also amazing. Let's say this is true. It does imply that shop owners have found faith in taking Euros, whether for immediate exchange, or deferred consumption. Ah yes, I remember travelling and the (sic) nightmares of the "exchange place(s)". Oh the horror. It's one thing for border towns to accept the foreign currency of a neighbor state. It's another thing to accept an "other continental" currency. You don't see shops taking Yen in Seattle, or Pesos in San Diego. You didn't see NY merchants accepting Israeli Shekels, Euros or British Pounds when the FRN was strong against them. Typically, forex at the point of sale is badly discounted against the consumer. I would be surprised if Europeans are receiving much better than 1.4:1 in their purchases in New York. Probably 1.3, or 1.35. The further the Euro gets from the FRN in par value, the more desirable they will become in loose exchange, and a secondary profit point for retailers serving tourist traffic. And yes, hoarding does occur, as employees will swap out foreign currency from the cash register for FRNs during their shift.
Actually we didn't even have one quarter of negative GDP. 4th Quarter GDP came in at .6% while not great still not in recession area either., the low GDP was largely attributed to business cutting back on inventory and not producing as much.
You know, 100 years from now, people will laugh at the folks who cited GDP in the face of overwhelming public and professional opinion, as well as obvious practical indicators that the economy is not healthy. Is it any surprise that GDP stays positive, when the government deficit spends, and increases the money supply willy-nilly?
If you lived in a border city this is no big deal. Here in Detroit/Winsdor US/CAD have always been accepted on both sides of the border as long as I have been alive. Don't make a big deal out of small beans.
I found this on a blog from January 4, 2008 about "Euros Accepted" in New York. Your right on the exchange,. The sign reads 1 euro = $1.10. At that rate I'd be glad to get them and start using them instead of dollars. http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2008/01/everyday-chatter.html
Right we'll focus on something arbitrary like "publics opinion" rather then on concrete statics based on peoples action. Have you ever thought that people say one thing and do another. The government portion of the economy is one of the smallest that if they wanted to they couldn't keep the economy going themselves.
You have to wonder how many euros are currently in circulation in New York from condo rents, professional services and stores accepting euros.
I was right because I have experience in this matter. Trust me @ $1.10, some shops will only offer par value, and then before the end of the business day, or shift, the employees will swap their own FRNs in to get their hands on the more valuable Euros. Been there, seen that. I might also add, I doubt many shopkeepers are going to report the exchange profit openly, and pay taxes on that gain. Hence, why the currency transactions end up being pseudo black-market.
From about 8 months ago. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/91c6eac2-2335-11dc-9e7e-000b5df10621.html?nclick_check=1
I can see a lot of euros getting into cirrulation from rents. A village sublet could eaisily bring in 1500-2000 euros a month in cash. With US interest rates declining and a favorable exchange rate New York is bound to be flooded with euros. Further decline in the dollar will cause people to activily seek euros or demand them for sales.
Actually, I disagree with the above. If there are signs "accepting euros" it means euro is getting stronger, thats how dollar has become the most popular currency ages ago. You cant deny that? Same situation was in UK from 2000 year I havent seen that much signs of euros, now its completely different situation. However you can still think that its "for the sake of convenience". As for the Russia, I can say many people still want to see only dollars, some converted to euro, but I guess its just people are more used to dollars over here.
It's the beginning signs of a block market in euros. If Fed keeps on lowering interest rates and printing money, the demand for euros will increase.