Once upon a time, weren’t we able to buy more stuff with our dollars? The U.S. dollar, along with related exchange traded funds (ETFs), has dropped in value, but it still hasn’t lost its appeal.
According to Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Currency Indexes, the U.S. dollar is about as valuable now as it was back in 1975, writes Ben Levisohn for Bloomberg. Since November, the U.S. dollar has appreciated 6%, but it still depreciated 12% in the first 11 months of 2009. [U.S. Dollar ETF.]
Still, demand for the dollar has been on the rise, with investors outside the U.S. hoarding $3.6 trillion in 2009 through November, up 17%.
Barclays Capital economists estimate that U.S. GDP may expand 3.6% this year, as compared to 2.5% for the rest of the developed world, and 3.1% in 2011, versus 2.6% in other developed countries.