Weak US Dollar Means Nintendo Favors Europe For Now

timeOday writes "The LA Times is reporting that the new Nintendo Wii Fit is hard to find on US shelves, due not only to strong demand but also the United States' declining status in the world economy: '"[Nintendo] is also is shrewdly maximizing its profit by sending four times as many units to Europe, reaping the benefits of the strong euro," says Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities. "The shortage demonstrates one consequence of the weak dollar. We're seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere."'"

Oh the humanity

[by Anonymous Coward]

I feel like a Canadian

how long until US quarters get stuck/rejected by Canadian vending machines and laundermat washing machines

Re:Oh the humanity

[HalAtWork (926717)]

Oh, you laughed at us when you were on top, but I bet you wished you accepted our quarters now!

Re:Oh the humanity

[PixelScuba (686633)]

Wait... your initial point made sense... but your last half is some ridiculous rant against environmentalism. What says we can't save the Spotted Owl AND Increase our industry. We can be environmentally conscious as well as industrially advanced. The problem is that industry is lazy and would gladly steamroll the environment to save a buck.

I consider myself to be an environmentalist... MOST environmentalist don't say "Don't chop down trees" they say "Chop down what you need and reseed the forest, using technology that limits the impact on the surrounding earth". We can have both strong environmental policy as well as a powerful industry.

Where to begin!?

[MisterSquid (231834)]

Your post is so reactionary and simple-minded that it certainly seems to have been written by an American, short on rationality as it is. In fact, in the last day or so /. has had several posts like yours modded up because they say absurd things such as the high cost of oil is due in part to the restrictions on domestic drilling.

If you think the US economy is in the shitter because of environmental protections you are an embarrassment to the genetic legacy your ancestors have bequeathed you.

The US economy is in the craphole because of the massive debt that has been leveraged against insolvent debtors. This came in the form of the mortgage crisis and its effects have reverberated and multiplied through the banking system. This has led to a crisis in commercial credit which has taken away the ability of consumers to fuel the economy which further erodes the ability of the banking system to maintain solvency. The causes of the credit crisis caused by the tanking of the mortgage system has not yet finished and we are likely to see much worse before it stops.

Regarding the offshoring of manufacturing and environmentalism, the real impact of environmental legislation in the United States is not to preserve non-human species, but to protect humans themselves. Look at the places where mining companies, steel refineries, chemical manufacturing plants, and pulp mills have operated and what you'll find are poisoned water tables and insanely elevated cancer rates. Additionally, the relative low-production of minerals from mining is due mainly to evisceration of the lands where valuable resources once existed, not due to the governmental restrictions on development.

For you to say something like "the tree huggers over her taking so much power" is laughable. Opening all the protected lands in the US would to natural resource exploitation do virtually nothing to fix the GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS let alone the paltry problem of the US economy stumbling against the stronger European economy. The kind of neanderthal thinking that bad economic times can generate amongst people is amazing and your post is an example of such stupidity.

Environmentalism has not caused the US economic crisis. Bad banking practice has.

Re:Where to begin!?

[Chrisje (471362)]

I second that motion. In Europe, the Governmental banks had to intervene in order to keep the same crisis from hitting the EU. Slowly but surely, the US mantra of "the market will fix anything" is eroding. It just goes to show that you need a fair bit of regulation in the financial sector (as in any sector) because the market will ultimately fall victim to stupid greed and short term thinking.

The funny thing is that TFA also mentions an interesting tidbit which is preposterous:

"We're seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere"

Now I've worked for HP for the past twelve years. I assume everyone knows that HP is from Palo Alto originally, and a very, very solid American company. Now since 1996 already the EMEA region has been responsible for 42% or more of the total HP revenue in the world, followed by The Americas and then APJ. Since China and India are ramping up economically, it wouldn't surprise me if the US is now competing for that second spot with the APJ region.

This notion is not just something that lives inside of large corporations like HP, but can easily be verified on Da Innerweb. If you add up the Gross National Product of member-state countries of the EU from numbers you find on CIA World Factbook, or if you simply look at wikis or reports on this, you will see that the EU has a GDP that is 15% higher than the US. Now since the US are ~300 million and the EU are ~400 million people, the GDP per capita is still a bit lower than the US', but this is also due to the fact that the newer member states such as Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Slovakia are all former Warsaw Pact members who still have a bit of growing to de economically.

To cut a long story short, in 2006 the EU was already putting more value out there than the US. And the decreasing value of the Dollar might be good for the US' export position, but the bottom line is that the US are no longer the biggest market on the planet. It hasn't been. For years.

Re:Oh the humanity

[MvD_Moscow (738107)]

You don't have much understanding of economics or globalization, do you? I also like the tree hugger angle, really American of you... Utter ignorance mixed with smug self confidence. You talk bullshit and you're proud of it.

Okay, now this might be kind of hard to understand, but just imagine for a minute that the communist/liberal/homosexual/tree hugger conspiracy doesn't exist. Instead, try and think how people live in other parts of the world, specifically what most people call the 'developing world'. Have you considered how wages and living standards might differ in the 'developing world'? You do realize that the vast majority of labour intensive industrial operations (such as steel) tend to requires very little skill? So why the hell would anyone want to setup a still mill in the US when you can do it for a lot cheaper in some other part of the world.

Let me give you a more concrete example. In Ukraine (its a country in Europe, it has a pretty highly educated workforce and a pretty large industrial base), a salary of $20K is considered pretty damn good, especially if you live outside the capital Kiev. And I am not talking about some shitty job in a steel mill, even a management position with a $20K salary is considered pretty good. Now what do you think an average American still mill worker gets paid per year? is $35K a fair estimate? So why shouldn't business simply setup shop in Ukraine, spend a little bit more on transportation and save the bunchload of cash.

I know that it's easy to make up excuses about the tree huggers ruining everything, but unfortunately sometimes you have to use your brain and think straight. Industrial production is never coming back to the USA! Not unless Americans are going to accept Bangladesh style wages/living standards.

And what power are you talking about? The power to make you sound retarded? You live in America, you have one pro-business party that has a fascists/right wing and another socially liberal/centrist wing.

Right wing armchair economists are such a laugh. Though I guess I shouldn't be laughing, crying would probably be more appropriate.

If you want to look for the real reason behind Nintendo's decision, I suggest you read up on interest rates. You might learn some interesting things that you never knew about, like how the fed essentially bails investors whenever they fuckup which leads to retarded behavior (among other things that contributed to current economic instability).

Re:Oh the humanity

[flyingsquid (813711)]

On the bright side...well, maybe some of those industries will come back, but, that takes time...and with all the tree huggers over here taking so much power...it still may not happen. I like a nice clean world too...but, strike a balance guys....if it comes to the US failing, and a couple of spotten owls, I'll feel sorry for the owls, but, I gotta say humans and our needs take priority.

I disagree with this argument for a couple of reasons. First, the assumption is that conservation is somehow altruistic. It isn't. Having a healthy environment is a selfish thing. It means that you don't have to worry about the air or the water making your children sick. It means you can hunt deer, catch fish, and grow vegetables in your yard and actually eat them. It means you can eat sushi whenever you want. It means being able to take your family out for a walk and being able to show them something besides a strip mall. Fuck the owls, I want the environment saved for me and my kids.

Second, I disagree with the idea that raping the environment is the way forward. It's a short term solution. Unquestionably, cutting down all the redwoods would create a few jobs and make some money, but once you'd finished, you'd be right back where you started. The way forward is investing in infrastructure, technology, and education. Lay down broadband, improve the quality of our primary and secondary education, make college education affordable for any kid who works hard in high school. Invest in alternatives to oil- you'd simultaneously help reduce our dependency on mideast oil and create a product the rest of the world would want to buy. Build more mass transit, which would create jobs, reduce energy consumption, and provide the infrastructure to help the economy grow. It's not a situation of having a liveable environment or a good economy; we have to try for both.

Re:Oh the humanity

[ozamosi (615254)]

Also, while our European governments steal all our money for taxes, we use it for better things than throwing bombs at some desert...

Re:Oh the humanity

[by Anonymous Coward]

I can't think of anything better than that.

Re:Americans AREN'T skilled (says Toyota)

[NFN_NLN (633283)]

If I was BMW I'd love to settle back in Detroit; little competition from GM/Ford, tons of skilled workers...

Queue sound of music stopping to a screech...


"Toyota has stated it will build a new factory in Canada instead of the US because of concerns US workers are less skilled."

"Toyota President calls American's stupid"
http://forums.motortrend.com/70/38630/the-general-forum/toyota-president-calls-americans-stupid/index.html [motortrend.com]

Re:Oh the humanity

[Admiral Ag (829695)]

Is this a joke?

In a post that is riddled with historical inaccuracies and plain daft statements, this stands out:

"Of course, typical Americans; cleaning up after europe shits all over the place. Abolishing slavery."

WTF? That's a party you were particularly late to (just like both World Wars). You might want to check on the dates for European countries abolishing slavery (hint: generally before you). And as for reinstating civil rights, of course you remember what happened about 40 years ago, right?

Congratulations on making yourself look like an ass and giving your fellow Americans a bad name.

Re:which state?

[Serious Callers Only (1022605)]

I just use them as various words for the same thing

This won't make you popular with someone not from England, though English people generally won't care.

UK = England + Wales + Scotland + Northern Ireland
GB = Old fashioned term for England + Wales + Scotland
England = England
Commonwealth = lots of former colonies + UK

So you'd generally be safe using the UK where you would normally say 'England'.

Re:Oh the humanity

[by Anonymous Coward]

Iraq war was at least as pointless as the Vietnam war. Saddam was no threat other than in the eyes of the American public bombarded by the propaganda campaign of the US government.

If you read Israeli Kuwaiti security reports about Iraq their assessment was; Iraq is essentially a failed state extremely week from a decade of sanctions and poses no security threat.

Being defenseless is of course a prerequisite for the US to invade as we won't pick on someone that could actually defend themselves (would not be a very productive way to run an empire)

The worst atrocities Saddam committed was while he was SUPPORTED by the US. This is hugely important piece of information that gets downplayed with "the enemy of our enemy is our friend". But the US was supporting both sides of the Iran/Iraq conflict so there is no moral ground to stand on.

The problems of Saddam at his worst was he was being supported by an external all powerful military force with deep vested interests in resources of the area, giving him free hand to commit atrocities in the name of "stability" now Iraq has a government in place that commits atrocities in the name of "democracy" with the same power structure. This is not lost on Iraqis. The victims flesh burning white phosphors [google.com] in Fallujah and the tortured of abu ghraib [google.com] probably don't care much about the semantics.

Re:Oh the humanity

[thetoadwarrior (1268702)]

Of course, typical Americans; cleaning up after europe shits all over the place. Abolishing slavery, abolishing monarchies, reinstating civil rights and real courts, cleaning up the mess left in the Middle-East by the English (I'd love to applaud the people who drew those maps up, geniuses amongst men they must have been to mix kurds, sunnis, and shias), and defending Europe as much as they could from facists, from communists.

Europe abolished slavery first and its citizens generally get more protection where as the US tends to favor business.

As far as Isreal, I didn't hear the US object to giving them the land and it's the US that defends Isreal these days more than anyone else.

Going after Iraq for 9/11 isn't cleaning up after Europe. It's making an excuse for Jr to do what daddy didn't do. Though Bush senior, in general, while being called a wimp was more sensible and at least was leaned more to being a sensible republican. It was he who helped make businesses accomodate people with disabilities. Just as Nixon made an attempt to help the environment with creating the EPA.

Since the Clinton era, the republican party has really gone to hell. In fact US politics in general have gone to hell. That's what's hurting the US more than anything and it makes me glad I've moved out of there years ago.

Re:Oh the humanity

[vandan (151516)]

In Iraq there was a dictator

Get over it. He was your biggest ally for decades. The fact that you lost control of him is your own stupid fault.

who testing chemical and biological weapons on his own people

Bullshit. It was the US doing the testing. Saddam merely used what the US gave him.

who violated so many UN human rights charters

So? Go and invade Israel if you're so concerned about UN human rights charters and resolutions.

And it help fight the slow death of small, often ignored countries like Lebanon

WTF?

In vietnam communists wanted to control the country

That's quite a simplistic view. I forgive you, considering your other way-off statements so far. Communists HAD taken over Vietnam, and had MASSIVE backing from the population. That's no reason to invade and carpet-bomb the place with napalm and chemical weapons ( the same weapons you were just crying about Saddam using ).

Of course, typical Americans; cleaning up after europe shits all over the place

Hardly. It's more like MAKING all the shit and expecting everyone else to call it flowers.

Abolishing slavery, abolishing monarchies, reinstating civil rights and real courts, cleaning up the mess left in the Middle-East by the English

Oh fuck off. The US was built on slavery, and the remnants of it are still very much alive today. Abolishing monarchies? What do you call George Dubya, commander in chief? What's the point of abolishing something and replacing it with the same thing, but a different name? Why not try some democracy instead? Huh? And as for cleaning up the mess in the middle east, I believe you're FUCKING up the middle east. You must have a pretty warped idea of what's going on over there. You're American, right

Re:Oh the humanity

[ccollao (227727)]

sort your own backyard first.

Please, don't send them to south america again... We are finally doing ok, since the US Army is looking to the other way around. ;)

Re:Oh the humanity

[the eric conspiracy (20178)]

That is absurd. The US has been running deficit budgets (to pay for wars) and balance of payments for decades. Consumers have not been saving; in fact the rate of savings in the US is negative.

Other parts of the world with strong economies have IP laws that are just as strong as in the US and are doing fine.

It is all about unwise fiscal policies that are resulting in the decline of the dollar.

Re:Oh the humanity

[the eric conspiracy (20178)]

I am sorry, but I am familiar with IP laws in most of the rest of the developed world. I have 12 patents in my name that have been issued in multiple countries. Japan is actually more lenient in granting patents than the US. The EU is a little more strict but not much. In other areas (copyright) most countries have either a 50 year or 70 year post-mortem copyright period. The US is not at all unusual with it's 70 year period.

Yes China's situation is a bit different as a developing nation but it is rapidly becoming normalized with the rest of the world as they are starting to develop their own "imaginary property". They are now a member of WIPO, the Paris convention, the Madrid Agreement and have a State Patent and Trademarks office. While enforcement is spotty the trend is obvious.

Any claim that the US economy isat a disadvantage due to IP laws is hooey.

Re:Oh the humanity

[homer_s (799572)]

Well, the data I have is from 2006 and I'm too lazy to look up newer data.

Re:Oh the humanity

[homer_s (799572)]

And where do those raw materials, or even parts for those jet engines come from?

You are correct, the USA should immediately cease producing value added goods and produce iron ore and silicon.

Re:Oh the humanity

[FST777 (913657)]

Here in the Netherlands, US cars are advertised on the radio by mentioning the continuing fall of the dollar in a news styled manner while cheering is heard on the background. I'm not joking.

So, does this mean

[Daimanta (1140543)]

that Europe won't recieve everything 4-12 months later than Japan and the US? Still waiting for SSB:B...

Re:Language barriers

[EvilNTUser (573674)]

Or how about just initially releasing it in English for the vast majority of gamers who simply want to play the game? Even weirder is how the games are delayed even in those European countries that don't get a localized version.

Re:Language barriers

[mikael_j (106439)]

This depends on what country you're in, here in Sweden most people speak english well enough that until recently few games were translated to swedish, to this day many of the big titles (guitar hero, gta series, WoW and lots of others IIRC) are not available in swedish versions, yet we have to wait until the release of the versions of games translated to german and french before they're released, in english, here.

/Mikael

Re:Language barriers

[MemoryDragon (544441)]

I beg to differ. Few people speak English in Europe, except in a few countries like the Netherlands. You probably just hang around with English speakers only and don't see the reality.

Pretty much everyone in central northern and western europe speaks english to some extent. The only exceptions probably are southern spain, rural france and probably southern italy. Eastern europe is pretty well equiped, people learn english like crazy there you might get a problem in rural areas but definitely not in cities.

Re:Language barriers

[Endo13 (1000782)]

In other words, about 95% of Europeans who play video games.

Re:Language barriers

[vidarh (309115)]

I've traveled quite a lot in Europe over the last 25 years, and yet I've never had a problem finding people who speak English everywhere I've gone. Now, if they don't like you they might not want to speak English to you, but the trick to avoid that problem is to not act like an arrogant prick, and ideally to try to speak the local language, however limited your skills are, first. I find trying to speak the local language works everywhere in the world - when you do people tend to fall over themselves trying to be friendly and helpful, and suddenly people put a hell of a lot more effort into speaking understandable English to you.

It's been 15 years since I last came across anyone in mainland Europe that didn't speak any English at all - a very helpful French shop owner in a tiny town in Provence that, when he realized we were talking past each-other with my limited French, stopped a couple of random people who were passing by his shop and got them to translate.

On my last proper visit to Paris a couple of years ago it had been 12 years since last time I'd spent any amount of time there (I'd been on a couple of business trips where I spent 3-4 hours in town and then went back to London) in fact, I find it hard to practice my French as contrary to my last holiday there every French person I came across switched to English the second I had problems finding the right word, or butchered their language too much (my French teacher used to say that the one thing you should always make sure to get right in France is the sounds - if you pronounce things correctly you'll get away with almost anything - so far I think she's been right)

Re:Even weirder

[jsebrech (525647)]

Exactly what they needed that delay for, I don't even know. Certainly not for translations.

Marketing. They needed to spread out the marketing effort through time so they could do it with a fixed team.

Bush

[Boronx (228853)]

I wonder if this has anything to do with Bush running up trillions in debt and making everyone hate us?

Re:Bush

[MillionthMonkey (240664)]

I wonder if this has anything to do with Bush running up trillions in debt and making everyone hate us?

Well look at it this way.

The government is the only entity that can effectively control the amount of currency in circulation. It is the only entity that can create and destroy money by fiat; it can print currency, it can create funds to lend to central banks, and it can destroy the money it created.

The government takes money from you every year in April. Someone has to repair roads, pick up garbage, provide for the common defense etc. Asphalt, garbage trucks, and missiles cost money. The government prints this money and spends it. It's all OK because it picks your pocket, pulls out dollars, and destroys them to account for it. And you shouldn't complain because you get to drive on nice roads with no garbage or foreigners.

What if they didn't take your money? That's what George W. Bush did. He figured you'd like him more if we skipped the part where the money comes out of your pocket and gets burned up in order to close the books on the services you receive from the government. So the money escaped your pocket (or at least your $300 consolation prize did), and suddenly all this money that had been spent paving the roads and collecting garbage was suddenly appearing at Wal*Mart for its second life, and it got spent a second time to buy more garbage, predominantly imported crap from overseas. Basically the government printed crap dollars, we spent them on imports, giving sellers overseas dollars that they promptly exchange for their own currencies. The currency exchange markets are quickly overwhelmed by dollars. These quickly end up parked in immense T-Bills held by foreign banks, who would like to unload them but cannot risk damaging their value by flooding the dollar markets with their own holdings. But the value of the dollar is deteriorating anyway, much to everyone's dismay- because dollars are the most widely held currency in the world. And we owe them to everybody. You see how awkward this is.

Let's say now you're sitting on a loading dock with 500 Nintendos on pallets. Do you want to turn them into dollars? Heh heh heh heh heh.

But the invisible hand has a way to correct everything. Maybe someday we can make our own Nintendos.

Re:Bush

[dvice_null (981029)]

> All bush did was speed up the process

That is a very nice way to say "he doubled the national debt within few years".

Re:Bush

[Goaway (82658)]

Cynicism is no substitute for insight: http://zfacts.com/p/318.html [zfacts.com]

Re:Bush

[nuzak (959558)]

> Maybe I won't have described the process perfectly correctly

ALL money based on an arbitrary valuation is inflationary. Backing it with a shiny metal provides something of a natural cap to inflation, but it's not like there wasn't hyperinflation when our money was "good as gold". In fact, banks were collapsing left and right throughout the 1800's when we were solidly on a gold standard.

> Check out money as debt on google video.

Certainly do so just for edification, but it's eye-rollingly bad stuff. Full of ominous conspiratorial whisperings, and a general emphasis on how evil the whole notion of debt is. How about thinking of it this way: debt is an added valuation on time. And time is about as universal a commodity as it gets.

But... Wii Ain't Fit over HERE!

[joocemann (1273720)]

Europeans are already fit! Wii need it here so we can earn our dubba-chee!

Bah Humbug

[neokushan (932374)]

I hate how Europe always gets shafted, especially when it comes to gaming.
Rarely do we ever get a title released here first, even titles that were developed here tend to get released in the USA first.
What's more, Nintendo, Sony AND Microsoft have all indicated that they don't care for Europe.
Sony is probably the worst offender, by giving us a stripped down PS3 at nearly twice the price as the US and Japan (There's only so much "tax" and "import costs" can account for).
Rock band is actually cheaper to import from the US than it is to buy in the shops (it's almost twice the price when you buy the set and the game!). This is really nothing new, but it's still infuriating the way we get treated.

Re:Cost of localisation

[neokushan (932374)]

I've no idea, but there's no real reason to hold a title back from the UK just because they haven't translated it into French, Italian, German and Spanish (assuming it's not one of those titles with a language select in it, which are rare these days).
It wouldn't be so bad, but they never bother to translate American English into British English, so really, what's the point in waiting?

Re:Cost of localisation

[l-ascorbic (200822)]

The EU has no rules stating that companies have to release multi-lingual stuff. Individual countries (France) have rules related to language, but I think that mostly applies to advertising. There's nothing to stop them just releasing it in the UK and Ireland, so long as they don't prevent people elsewhere importing it if they want to.

Re:Cost of localisation

[miscz (888242)]

Yes, at least in here in Poland it's a regular practice. What's totally fucked up is that english ones usually cost up to twice as much as the localised ones. Add that we aren't used to this kind of translations (movies in cinema are almost exclusively subtitled and TV uses voice-over via Gavrilov translation [wikipedia.org]) and it just feels wrong to hear our language used by Stroggs and other alien invaders.

With the US dollar this weak...

[RealGrouchy (943109)]

I'd have expected the headline to say "Nintento Favours Europe"

- RG>

Sorry. US Market no longer leading Europe

[PKFC (580410)]

Turns out Europe overtook the US gaming market [kotaku.com] for FY2007.

I hate hearing the whining of the article repeated elsewhere: "We're seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere." That link I just posted says Japan is #1 in sales at $11.5 B USD, Europe is #2 at $11.4 B USD and US only pulled in $10.7 B USD. So companies aren't ignoring their largest market; they're giving the leftovers to the third largest market. Deal.

Repeat after me...

[Maudib (223520)]

There is no correlation between a weak dollar and the strength or status of the U.S. in the world economy. A weak dollar is not inherently bad either as it makes our exports more attractive and competitive.

It always amazes me. When the dollar is strong everyone says the U.S. is loosing economic power because of trade imbalances (weak exports). When the dollar is weak and trade exports are much higher, then people claim the U.S. is loosing economic power because of the weak dollar. Obviously neither interpretation is accurate. A strong dollar can be good and bad, a weak dollar can be good and bad. In this case American video game exporters are probably benefiting from less competition from Nintendo.

Such simplistic interpretations remind me of mercantilist theory, which is similairly idiotic. Carry on.

Re:Repeat after me...

[Oktober Sunset (838224)]

That's true, but the US is still going down the toilet.

Re:Repeat after me...

[Gregb05 (754217)]

b-b-but... they took er JERBS!

A Simple Lesson in Global Ecomonic Reality...

[flajann (658201)]

While there is some truth in what you say -- and reporters make copy by selling "bad news", however they spin it -- the real question is: how weak is too weak? If markets begin to skip selling in the US in lieu of more lucrative markets elsewhere, I really don't see this as a "good thing". The US has lost much of its manufacturing and production capacity to other countries, so there is nothing in place to make up the short fall.

The US is a war-driven ecomony, which is unfortunate on many fronts, let alone creating weapons and systems that kill innocents en masse -- there's an associated brain drain, and the goods created in most cases have no material use that would enhance wealth -- but rather, these devices are designed to destroy wealth as well as human lives.

China has manufacturing capability up the ying-yang (no pun intended), and as I've stated before, if they were to choose to stop propping up the USD, the US would have far more to loose than they would. Also keep in mind the Euro markets that they could -- and probably are -- transistion to if they're smart.

No, I'm afraid this is a different situation. It might be "ok" for the dollar to have *some* weakness from time to time, but you can't tell me it would be fine if the bottom fell out on the dollar entirely.

What a coincidence

[PPH (736903)]

OPEC is doing this with their oil as well.

Nobody wants dollars any more. That their value hasn't collapsed completely is due to the fact that every foreign national banking system has a vault full of dollars. Unloading them all at once would be the biggest run on the banking system you've ever seen. So oil (and many other commodity) producers 'officially' trade their product in dollars. Unless you happen to have Euros, Yuan, or some other desirable currency. Then you get a discount.

Re:Heh.

[by Anonymous Coward]

So, the *Wii* sucks because employees at your local department store buy them all up against the agreement Nintendo made with the store?

Re:Heh.

[drinkypoo (153816)]

Nintendo is trickling just enough Wiis (yech) into the US sales channels to keep up interest while feeding markets that are actually making money. Unfortunately, the citizenry of the US rested on its laurels and consequently our nation has been conquered from within in the name of profit, and our economy has successfully been attacked and destroyed. The effects are only now starting to become apparent, compared to what's coming. The point is, the Wii isn't a joke, the US Economy is - and it's going to take a lot of sweat to correct it.

Re:Heh.

[drinkypoo (153816)]

Methinks you are being sensationalist. If anything, the "recession/depression" that we are going through will stimulate a tide of social-programs that will benefit the overall welfare of the country more than the sales of a few million Wiis could.

I mentioned the Wiis as signifier, not as a possible spur to economic recovery, and your attempt to distract from the actual conversation by depicting it as anything else is disingenuous at best.

With that said, a tide of social programs is one possible outcome. It was a possible outcome during the Great Depression, too, but in actuality we never really recovered from that until we began to receive and benefit from economic concessions from Germany and Japan following WWII.

This time it's hard to imagine where the money is going to come from. I'd like to see the public works projects, but they couldn't even bother to go save people's lives in New Orleans. I'm just not seeing it, sorry. Seriously, where does the money come from?

You doom-and-gloom predictions of "a lot of sweat to correct it" simply miss the point of what's really wrong.

I really meant blood, but I didn't want to seem overly melodramatic. On the other hand, blood is the cost of the way we do business today - do you have any idea of what percentage of the shit we buy from China is produced in government-owned-and-operated forced labor camps filled predominantly with people whose primary crime is that they were the nails sticking up the farthest and they needed laborers? People are literally put into labor camps for being Christians... where they make the plastic shit that we hang on our christmas trees.

Closer to home, though, I really don't see things changing for the better without a major upset. I hope to be wrong.

Re:This does not make sense

[Doppler00 (534739)]

Good question. Nintendo is losing quite a bit of money by not raising the price of the Wii to match market demand. I think in the U.S. people are too used to seeing the price of electronics fall yearly, but with our rapid inflation rate, that's not going to happen anymore.

Nintendo should just go ahead and silently raise the price a little. Sure, there will be some anger but I don't think it would hurt their brand very much. They could always just say "because of the weakening U.S. dollar..." and I think people would get the point. Heck, even U.S. companies are doing that now.

Re:It will all end on Jan 20, 2009

[truthsearch (249536)]

43.75 percent arabic and 6.25 percent african negro

Being muslim in Kenya makes one Arabic? That's a new one for me.