Weak US Dollar Means Nintendo Favors Europe For Now 588
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."'"
This does not make sense (Score:3, Interesting)
Cost of localisation (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Cost of localisation (Score:4, Interesting)
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:Bush (Score:1, Interesting)
National debt works like this:
Treasury/Fed make federal reserve dollars and give it out as treasuries at interest.
People get the interest over time and theoretically expect to get principle in the future. Now the Fed/Treasury control the money supply and have paid the interest for however many years, so much of that money they received has to be handed back. Where are they going to get the principle from? Creating more debt of course, which then also has to be paid back, and so on...
All bush did was speed up the process, the whole thing has to break.
Check out money as debt on google video.
Maybe I won't have described the process perfectly correctly but to the best of my knowledge that's correct. Someone please correct me if it's wrong.
Re:Cost of localisation (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:This does not make sense (Score:5, Interesting)
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:Heh. (Score:5, Interesting)
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?
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:Repeat after me... (Score:2, Interesting)
A Simple Lesson in Global Ecomonic Reality... (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Quid pro quo? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Sorry. US Market no longer leading Europe (Score:3, Interesting)
TFA talks of the North American market. Tack on the Canadian numbers to those of the US and I'm sure you'll see the total top the Japanese numbers.
Re:Americans AREN'T skilled (says Toyota) (Score:5, Interesting)
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 (Score:3, Interesting)
No...I didn't mean it was reason it left...but, is an impediment to it returning. We can't seem to even get to drill for our own oil off the coasts of FL or CA....even with great breakthroughs in safely drilling without spills. We can't seem to build any more refineries any longer, nor build Nuke plants...too much NIMBY.
I think it is going to hurt us even more in the future. Like I said above (amazingly modded down to hell), I hope to strike a balance...between ecology, and the needs of modern man for materials and energy...
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:5, Interesting)
You are correct, the USA should immediately cease producing value added goods and produce iron ore and silicon.
What a coincidence (Score:5, Interesting)
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:Oh the humanity (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
Even weirder (Score:4, Interesting)
Even weirder was buying a US import version of Sega's PSO for the Dreamcast, over half a year IIRC before it got released in Europe. The weird thing is: the US version already had all the language options. I don't mean just that it also had Spanish, but it also had German and French. So someone from the USA could jolly well play the game in German or French, but the people in Germany or France weren't supposed to.
Exactly what they needed that delay for, I don't even know. Certainly not for translations.
Re:Even weirder (Score:5, Interesting)
Marketing. They needed to spread out the marketing effort through time so they could do it with a fixed team.
Re:Heh. (Score:3, Interesting)
I couldn't agree more. But like I said, out-of-control real estate prices are a major urban concern. Also, another reader mentioned that cheap housing has a significant impact on local crime. High-crime areas are definitely not good for families.
So in addition to parks, I think urban schools that are hands-down better than suburban options would be a boon for the "family-friendly" cities that you speak of.
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:3, Interesting)
The American worker needs to become competitive and that means aggressively seeking education and job-specific skills. It is our duty to OURSELVES to be adaptive, multi-skilled, inquisitive, self-teaching, and to hustle for work. People who refuse to do that deserve what they get. Our competitors aren't doing anything we cannot CHOOSE to do.
As for any "green" obstacles, vote and organize others to vote. Don't forget to vote against the "oilgarchy" who are a MUCH bigger obstacle than the "greenies" they blame-shift onto!
That makes a change for once (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:0, Interesting)
Unfortunately, the unintended consequence of baby sitting Western Europe was that it invited Western Europe to lecture the US on the unnecessary of war and military.
Personally, I am fully in favor of pulling all military assets out of the EU now, NATO too. Let's see how much money you have left for your social programs then. Maybe you'll all go back to killing on another.
WTF? (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
Excuse me for saying this, but that paragraph makes you look like an ignorant dumbass. China is booming because, surprise, surprise, they embraced capitalism, and Chinese companies work very hard and pay very low wages, and their products sell well because of the resulting low prices. China is not a free country and open your mouth and criticise the government too much and you will get arrested, but they actually have a Chinese branch of the Catholic church (the Vatican and China have resolved a lot of their differences).
The last time China put people into labour camps for being Christian was during the Cultural Revolution, about 40 years ago.
You know, if people like you would actually read the news on occasion, and pay a little attention to what's happening beyond your borders, your economy might profit as a result of that enlightening knowledge.
O RLY? (Score:3, Interesting)
Amazon.de has some, that's all I can find. No English versions anywhere.
I'm sure some 'leet slashdotter knows where there's a secret stash in the UK, and they may even tell me, but that doesn't change the fact that they're effectively unobtainable in the UK too.
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:3, Interesting)
No..not at all, you miss the point. We should strive as much as possible to be as completely self sufficient as possible, or risk our independence to the rest of the world if for some reason where we get stuff from, decides to withhold resources....
Think about the risk we currently run with oil dependence from foreign sources. Now..extrapolate that to other raw goods.
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:2, Interesting)
1) The period of fascist control should be excused
2) Germany doesn't represent all of Europe
They weren't soviets. A 'Soviet' was a workers' council ( literally translated as peoples' advise ). What happened after Stalin came to power was nothing to do with the Soviets.
That's just racist trash. There's not a single Muslim family I know where I'd say that the female was treated like a slave. But if I look at society more generally, I'd say that Western ideology includes treating women like slaves. For example, my wife is pregnant, and due to give birth in 1 month. She gets 1 year maternity leave, but it's all UNPAID. She, and all other women, are expected to take care of the baby and home generally, for FREE. Now sure, my income supports her ( just ). But not all women are that lucky. What's more, when she goes back to work, the wages she earns will be about 70% of a males' wage, not because she's less skilled or capable, but just because Western society treats women like that. I'm sure it's the same in your country. In fact, I'm sure you support this. So lets not bring out the racist BS while conveniently forgetting our own shit, OK?
Mexico (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:What a coincidence (Score:3, Interesting)
Stupid to announce it. Not so stupid to do it.
Exporters like Saudi Arabia and Venezuela may already be accepting foreign currencies for settlements. They just aren't going to advertise it. Not until they can divest themselves of most of their dollar reserves and are willing to write off the rest.
In fact, the secret discount rate for those who offer to pay in other than USD may already be significant. Its like my Club Card at Safeway. The non-member price is set higher than the club price (advertised). Also, I get an additional discount, based upon my spending history, zip code, and whether the lady running the register thinks I'm cute and pushes the 'extra discount' button. The Saudis might be pushing that 'cute' button whenever someone flashes a role of Euros.
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:1, Interesting)
We are in big trouble.
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:3, Interesting)
Here in Sweden there is 480 days of paid parenthood. I am not sure how big percentage of the salary that is is.
However, one interesting thing to note is that these 480 days may be distributed in any way between father and mother. This is relativly new, and one of the things implemented to decrease gender discrimination here in Sweden. It is a very good law. Not only does it help women who want to keep working. There are also many new fathers that would like to spend more time with their children.
The biggest remaining gender discrimination here in Sweden is probably the wage gap which is hard to explain. There is work being done to reduce it, but it is hard without understanding the real reason for it. As you say, women aren't less skilled or capable, so how come they on average have lower salaries.
Is it concious discrimination by those setting salaries, or maybe unconcious discrimination. Or are women less likely to ask for salary increases? Until we fully know the answer to those questions it will be hard to fix it.
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Repeat after me... (Score:4, Interesting)
One, lots and lots of countries have, over the past decades, hoarded US$ as reserve currency. They see investments of billions, in some cases trillions, of dollars rapidly deflate.
Two, the world markets have changed. Point #1 is true because for a long time you could buy anything, anywhere in the world, with US$. That's changing. Thus your devalued currency is falling not only in purchasing power, but also in reach.
And this feeds back directly to the strength and status of the US because the US is a huge importing nation. Since there's little it exports, there's little you - as a foreign country with three times your GDP bound up in US$ - can do to get rid of your rapidly declining reserve. You can buy some high-tech, and that's essentially it. The US exports too little to spend your money, and other countries aren't really interested in taking it, because they're also trying to get rid of the crap.
The net effect of that is that the US becomes less and less important as a trading partner, because what they offer - US$ - is becoming worthless slips of fancy paper that you're desperately trying to get rid of, instead of getting even more of them.
That's a lot of loss of strength and status compared to a time where most of the world was trying hard to do business with you.
Re:Heh. (Score:3, Interesting)
This time it's hard to imagine where the money is going to come from.
I seriously do expect that the US will start a major war to beef up its economy. It definitely can't afford to go without a war at this time, I'm pretty certain it can't support a peace-economy anymore.
Re:Oh the humanity (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:8 Trillion in debt, it's a no brainer (Score:1, Interesting)
Because we have had such cheap gas, we were able to buy large, gas consuming vehicles (not me personally, but a lot of Americans did). Seeing gas prices rise so sharply and owning cars that get poor gas mileage means that a lot of people have a lot less expendable income. Expensive gas also means that the prices of everything else rise.
Your solution of getting a smaller car shows how little you know about finances. The cost of trading in your SUV for a compact would take years to make up. Only if you are in the market for a new car does it make financial sense. And guess what, a lot of people are doing that right now.
I guess I understand to a certain extent the anger directed towards us. Our government has done a poor job for us and the world. Americans are people just like you. You have traveled, you should have more of an open mind. Instead, you come off as close minded and a jerk. People are suffering...and in your mind, you think they deserve it. That's pretty sad. Despite all the anti-US sentiment in this posting from Europeans, I don't wish any ill towards your country or your people. You (not your country, but you) come off like you have some sort of inferiority complex.