Weaker Dollar Revamps World Economy

Americans lose pride, buying power, but gain jobs and sales abroad
By Jim O'Neill,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 24, 2007 11:04 AM CST
Weaker Dollar Revamps World Economy
A woman walks past businesses that cater to high-end luxury item consumers along Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. The weakened US dollar has increased the flow of foreign tourists shopping in major US cities.   (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

A declining US dollar is sparking changes worldwide, drawing jobs to the States and spurring sales of US goods, but also ending an age of rich Americans abroad and hurting economies that are pegged to the note. Its 7-year, 40% drop against the Euro is no short-term slide either, experts say. Even Jay-Z is touting Euros in his new video, "Black Magic," which extols lavish Manhattan lifestyles.

As Americans limit buys of imported goods, foreign companies like Airbus are taking advantage of cheap US labor, and some countries are pushing to trade currencies other than the age-old dollar. "The dollar was the dominant force in world economics for 100 years,” says economist Fred Bergsten. “All that is now changing." (More US economy stories.)

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