Off topic: The Canadian Dollar

When I was growing up, the Canadian dollar spent much of its time in free fall. Record breaking lows of the Canadian dollar against the American dollar was Bad News important enough to be lead story for the news broadcast, to merit a headline on the front page. It affected jobs, trade, revenue, imports, sports teams- all that jazz. So we were always told the diminishing dollar was Bad.

Now the Canadian dollar is on the rise against the American dollar, (or the American dollar is falling in comparison- it's difficult to tell) it achieved parity and then rose a bit more so it's worth a bit more than the American greenback, and that is... Bad News. It's the lead story for the news broadcasts, it merits headlines on the front page of the newspapers. It affects jobs, trade revenue, exports, sports teams- all that jazz.

So it's bad when the Canadian dollar is down, bad when the dollar is up, bad when the dollar is at parity... Is there any good news about the Canadian dollar? Should we dispense with it, and head back to barter? Head to Walmart with some chickens and tomatoes, trade them for some jeans and wheaties?