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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Morgan1878, post: 738095, member: 17869&quot;]There&#039;s a lot of talk about dollar purchasing power and how it is declining. The following is just my own &quot;backyard&quot; observations. </p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve been to Europe the past two summers (Spain, France, Belgium &amp; Holland). It is my observation that if you spend a euro in these countries to buy food, clothing or fuel, you get less than you would if you spent a dollar at home to buy any of these categories. We are of course disregarding exchange rates in this discussion.</p><p><br /></p><p>Real estate relative to the U.S. is also very expensive. A lot of dwellings are small, old and lack the conveniences we take for granted in the U.S.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why is this? Part of it has to do with the fact that taxes are higher and part of each euro spent is being ear-marked for various government social services (health, social security, unemployment, etc). Also there are more restrictions regarding retail trade that would promote price competition.</p><p><br /></p><p>I suppose my point is, that although the purchasing power of the dollar does not look good when converted into Euros and spent there, it actually, in my opinion has superior purchasing power when spent in the United States.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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