Dollar's Slide Softens Economy's

Even as the weakening US dollar has Americans dropping European vacation plans, some economists are finding a silver lining: A sudden upswing in exports that could help offset the tanking housing market. And while that jump was predictable, writes the Wall Street Journal, a limp greenback also works to slow one vital export: that of American jobs and factories.

Tourism is an industry keenly affected, akin to a boon in foreign tourists for Disney World, while Euro Disney slows to a crawl. And tourists in the US are opening their wallets: New York's Tiffany and Co. said spendthrift foreigners factored in a recent 31% jump in sales. But slow and steady, say economists, warning that a plunging dollar could tank the economy. (More money stories.)