bernd22

@kearflex
A typical american reply and avatar What's next you are going to shoot me for my opinion?

Re. Dollar devaluation, opinion only no fundamentalism implied

1) That is the only chance for most US products to be competitive on the world market, my products come from US and with a 1:1 Dollar I would be dead on spot despite patent and hightech. With a 1,50 rate I am just on the level of European products.

2) This is out of control of US, I am sure Americans hate this idea, as far as I could read but the simple fact of economics that is a huge budget and trade deficit and enormous military spendings. Close to 500 Billion US Dollar for 2007 are going up in smoke that is double than the rest of the world spends for the sake of what?

3) The fall of the Dollar will continue there are serious experts that see the Dollar at 2? at the end of 2009 due to the economics underlying that cannot be changed over night.

kearflex

No sir... I am not planning on shooting anyone...

HOWEVER, I have family and friends who are overseas fighting a war which everyone may not necessarily agree on. You sir, may not agree with the American government's foreign policy nor with how they handle their internal economic situation, however you are generalizing...

I may or may not agree with all of our policies or how our government decides to handle certain situations... That also stands true for other nations around the world.

As for as your your reference to the "shuttle disaster"? There were innocent people aboard who died for the sake of science... I don't understand how something so tragic could be referenced to a "we deserve it" context? How so? Please expand...

As far as your slavery comments? How are we using Mexicans as "slaves"? Mexicans are flocking across our border's in droves to become slaves? No! They are flocking across the borders to live in a country which will give them the opportunity to better themselves. I may not agree with our immigration laws (in fact I am strongly opposed) to illegal immigration... But to refer to the United States as slave traders IMO is ignorant... We all have history that we are not proud of (referring to your cotton picking slave comments)... I would like to hope that there is some German history c.i. 1939-1945 which you are not proud of...


"Pride" is what I feel for my country. Every time I see the U.S. flag I stand tall and proud. I wake up every morning and give thanks to all those overseas fighting for my freedom.

I have respect for other countries (including Germany) which I have had the pleasure of visiting on three separate occasions. I love to discuss (learn and enlighten) others views about my way of life. I also am intrigued to learn about other culture's beliefs, political views and general take on world issues. All I ever asked was for someone to show me the same respect as I do for them. Which, in my experience, has always been graciously offered.

525d MSport

And the nice thing is that we can express these views too.

All countries have things in their past which are unsavory so it is how they conduct themselves now that matters. To me it is the individual who matters not what country they come from.

I don't think that any of us will gain anything from criticising things they don't like about one country or another. I for one am amazed at some of the stupid things the UK government has done - losing bank records for 25million families is not one of the best that has just become known; and that is so minor compared to stuff such as the salve trade and the trench warfare in WW1. (Read about how many men died in the first hour of the battle of the Somme). We also used to drown people to find out if they were witches or not!

All countries do have responsiblities in todays world and we will never agree on how these are conducted. I have my own views on current world affairs and for sure, some world be horrified, and some would appove if I expressed them here. I won't however, but for sure we should all remember that the joy of a forum like this is being able to communicate with people from all over the globe.

And for the avoidance of doubt, these comments are not aimed at Kearflex or anyone in particular.

I also am sure that all forum members are saddened whenever innocent lives are lost in the world whatever their nationality may be - I know I am.

Regards to all.

redwhiteblue

wow this thread reminds me of why after graduating with a finance degree I did the furthest opposite job I could find. This crap gives me a headache. and I also do not know or remember half the crap people are throwing around here.

But I can comment on one nonsensical statement regarding we are devaluing our dollar on purpose-um no-Its called absolute zero respect or confidence for the US from any other country/investor that is foreign and THEY dictate what we are worth not us-well unless we start printing out a crapload of money but barring that the main driver in the dollar is confidence in that dollar and investors confidence both at home and overseas

RichReg

pennetta

I think you need a refresher course, but another reason the US is devaluing the US dollar is that other nations, including China and Germany, have a lot of assets currently in US currency. Under our capitalistic tendencies, we are waiting for these two countries to sell US dollars, at a loss, and buy Euros- After which we rejuvenate the currency, we pocket the spread and stay on top of the world. True, but I'm only kidding.

The US consumers will dictate what price the E60 will be, we are a big enough market that BMW does not want to lose sales volume. A truer statement will be that BMW will become less profitable in the US and it looks like from the pricing we are hearing from our brothers abroad and Canada, that you might be subsidizing the pricing here. Again we benefit from the spread and stay on top of the world.

RichReg

Since the U.S. IS BMW's largest market, mitigating currency losses here & there by building in other countries, hedging, etc. helps their problem in the short-run, but it by no means equally counters it. "Price subsidization" (as you put it) from other smaller markets outside the U.S. has been going on and will continue, but its still insufficient. BMW (and others) would need a much greater "countermeasure" (if you will) from somewhere else to make up for these kinds of losses IN THE LONG RUN. So please keep in mind that this currency issue has been going on for almost 5 years now, and if the dollar doesn't recover SOON, they will have to raise pricing along with every other European manufacturer.

Sooner than later, BMWAG will charge BMWNA more for their cars, and then they will pass it on to us...unless something more drastic than 'hedging' happens.

pennetta

As an example- There was a link here recently that pointed to a BMW executive discussing the pricing disparity between the US and Canada, where US were 10-20% cheaper. One in every ten Canadians were buying cars in the US and importing them to Canada. I recall BMW was not honoring the warranties to try to stop them. There are other examples.

RichReg

So you are implying that BMW intentionally raises prices above normal in Canada to make up for losses in the U.S?
Interesting....

Its possible, I guess.
However, I think that its absolutely ridiculous for BMW to do this to other countries just for the sake of U.S. pricing,
but whatever....

aqkhan6us

I do not think it is a good idea to increase the price because of
US $ rate
US economy
Present Gas Prices
No diesel cars in US
US diesel prices high (more than Premium Gasoline-91 octane)
and a lot other reasons too....

Those who want to pay more / think the prices should go up, They should give in charity / give donations to BMW and make the options more affordable......