On Thu, Nov 25, 2004 at 11:01:45PM +0000, Alberto Monteiro wrote: > Andrew Paul wrote: > > > This time they laughed at you if you offered them US dollars. I have > > a friend just back from Lebanon, who had the same experience. It is > > interesting how people in remote Colombian villages are so keyed > > into the global currency markets. I wonder how much is cause and how > > much effect. > > Or could it be because there is a huge ammount of counterfeit dollars > flowing around? And there are rumours that gov.us might change the > _physical_ dollar to something different, making all paper money > elsewhere automatically invalid - which could explain why some people > would reject paper dollars.
Probably neither, I guess. By the way, the US has already changed the dollar over the past couple years (well, not the $1, but the $100 and the $20 and the $10) to make it hard to counterfeit. Colombian private currencies holdings are just a drop in the ocean, having absolutely no effect on exchange rates. I'd guess the primary reason is mostly local (Colombian). If inflation is high and the government is uncertain, then dollars are the safe-haven medium of exchange. When inflation gets lower and the stability outlook is better, the dollar will not be in as much demand. -- Erik Reuter http://www.erikreuter.net/ _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
