www.CostaRicaTicas.com

OK another United Fruit Company stock holder sounds off. Those were the good ole days

But really, has anyone ever seen the colone go down compared to the US$. I thought there was a minimum 13% annual inflation rate factored in ensuring an everlasting favorable exchange rate:?:

"Times They Are A Changing" amigos mio

Shyone
I talked to one girl at the DR on Thursday night and she would not negotate lower than $100.00 because she said the dollar was weak. I gave her credit for staying current on the economy. But as usaul I banged her an ahour later for $60.00.

Maybe not until the credit crunch is over but when Europe sees even more unemployment due to Europeans buying outside the E.U. and there are more civil disturbances (France unrest of last year) and continued strikes (France and Germany rail strikes)....

It will come back up!!!!!! No other country in the world like the U.S. Yes we are unpopular now because of Irak but we were a neutral country once before when the Nazis invaded Poland and attacked England before Pearl Harbor.

Watch out for China, really watch out. They are expanding their military and Navy very rapidly. In 10 yrs. time could be like Japan was once a long time ago.

Oh, need add that the dollar was vrey low in the 80s then rebounded so not the first time it's been down

You have to look at the obligations of our government and its ability to pay without printing more money. We're trillions in debt and a critical crunch and devaluation would occur if other governments stopped buying our dollars to save our ass. We did not have these conditions in the 80s. Add to that the war that has no end in sight and that it and the way we print money(sell dollars) to support it not only drive down the value of the currency but then ask where we would be if nobody wants to buy the dollars to help us finance it. It's pretty ugly unless our government comes together for the people and gets it right.

I actually think JohnAZ has the right of it. Money is basically a social convention -- a mass halucination we are all too "invested" in to ignore. The key point of comparison is what you get for the currency you spend. 10 bananas or 100? The trick is to keep your eye on the underlying purchasing power of the currency. That's why the WSJ publishes it's 'big mac index' (and similar comparisons) every week.

That being said, I also agree that the relative value of the dollar is likely to take bigger hits, if only because the OPEC soveriegn funds are sick of their mistresses racking up even bigger bills in paris.

I remember when a pound could be bought for $1.01 in the very early 80s.

Wonder what the Brits were saying about the pound then? The pound took a while to get to 1.01 and it took a while to get back to historic levels. The dollar will do the same.

Seems weird that the dollar has fallen while the economy over the last "how many years?" has been doing quite well. Could the dollar come back as the economy slows if it can go down while the economy is good?

Why does it seem that the economy often thrives on what seems to be "funny money?" I remember the gold and silver craze in the late 70s, not sure what happened in the 80s, the dot com/stock market boom in the 90s driven by not-so-funny companies, the housing boom in the 2000s driven by funny mortgages.... just makes you wonder what is next..... history repeats itself... could it be gold and silver again?

It already is in silver and gold.
Dec 04 gold was $450 now its $820 down from a peak of $850
just a few weeks ago.
Silver at about the same rate, ping ponging in the last year $14-16.50
3-4 years ago it was $6

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Kiltman

I follow this subject very closely and could provide many relevant links here. BUT... instead, I'll just report a little Del Rey gossip. At least one monger has been told by one (or more) of the DR hotties that she now charges $120 because the dollar isn't worth what it used to be.

Rather than the banana index, I use the Molino Rojo index. Used to cost 6k colones when I first became a customer and now it's up around 9, I believe. Inflation is as alive in Costa Rica as it ever was, and the falling dollar only means that we won't have a rising exchange rate to offset Costa Rican inflation. Thank de lord that I can still afford the Molino Rojo. If I have to move to Calle 6 someday, I guess I can learn to monger during daylight hours.

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"The only normal people are those you don't know very well." Joe Ancis

Just a(nother) ploy.

I seem to recall getting around 510-515 colones per $ when I first came down in March of '06. No difference until just now.

But the ladies always took 50K colones (a little LESS than the "cien" they ask for).

Now, at 497 per $ if I give them 50K colones, where's the difference to them ? (so I guess NOW I WILL give them $100 )

*I* will be paying a couple of bucks more (@ 50K colones) but to them it's all the same.

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Reviews with Name, Where we can find her, Description (Height, weight, measurements (best guesses will do just fine)), and a rundown on services provided (and yes, YMMV is understood) would be GREATLY appreciated.

Is true and big part of the problem right now.

Actually c245 per $1 if I remember correctly about my first trip. AND YES, THANKS TO THE US GOVERNMENT and its war mongering and free trade policies, the exchange rate has changed. Hell, I was in the BCR walking up to the caja to change $s when it changed. It dropped from 517 to 497. This cost me about $70 a month in changing my SS check. ONLY HOPE IT DOESN'T DROP MUCH MORE!! but I am afraid it will, because, as others have said , Costa Rica has been artificially supporting the $ for a while

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

"I talked to one girl at the DR on Thursday night and she would not negotate lower than $100.00 because she said the dollar was weak. I gave her credit for staying current on the economy. But as usaul I banged her an ahour later for $60.00." ZEUS

Thats is some FUNNY shit!...but I have to wonder like Pauly points out, if some Euro boys were nearby or a Canadian con hardon if you would got your shot at $60. Maybe later.

Gonna stuff my pockets with an extra 5 percent next Friday when I come down cause Im not having any less fun while I wait for the dollar to rebound.

Mex peso doesn't seem to be gaining anything on the dollar. Canadian money hasnt been this high against the dollar in 30 years...let them have some wild times! Canucks in the Mist!

Huh ?

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Reviews with Name, Where we can find her, Description (Height, weight, measurements (best guesses will do just fine)), and a rundown on services provided (and yes, YMMV is understood) would be GREATLY appreciated.

hey...if you had say a $100 worth of Colombian pesos laying around from last visit, should you bring it to CR & say snatch up a Colo at the HDR? Or would it be relatively worthless in CR?, save it for Colo?

Anyone ever try to unload some Col Pesos in San Jose?