After two and a half years of covid lockdowns, lockouts, mandates and assorted other carzy bullshit, I'm going to Ireland next month. Works for me in terms of the exchange rate, but their inflation is as bad if not worse than ours, so I guess it's pretty much a wash. When I was there last, in late 2019, the Euro was at $ 1.22.
The euro has now fallen below parity with the dollar, diving to its lowest level in 20 years and ending a one-to-one exchange rate with the U.S. currency. $ 1.00 now buy 1.011 Euros.
A currency’s exchange rate can be a verdict on economic prospects, and Europe’s have been fading. Expectations that the economy would see a rebound after turning the corner from the COVID-19 pandemic have been replaced by recession predictions.
More than anything, high energy prices and record inflation are to blame. Europe is far more dependent on Russian oil and natural gas than the U.S. to keep industry humming and generate electricity. Fears that the war in Ukraine will lead to a loss of Russian oil on global markets have pushed oil prices higher. And Russia has been cutting back natural gas supplies to the European Union, which EU leaders described as retaliation for sanctions and weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
It may be a VERY cold winter in most of Europe because of all the bad decisions they've made about where and how to buy their fuel and energy products.
I understand that Orange Man Bad warned about Europe going to bed with Putin. Now they all have Monkeypox, but at least they no longer get mean tweets.
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