The Weak Dollar

Economists have not been terribly upset by the sinking value of the American dollar. With an election in the offing, the politicians are trying to spin the exchange rate to their favor, but there is a positive side to the current state of monetary affairs.

Bombardier, a Belfast-based airplane manufacturer, is hoping to drum up some business among airlines looking to replace old fleets. All those DC-9s and MD-80s are logging enough miles to wear them out, and Bombardier would like to promote its new CSeries as the natural choice for the likes of Lufthansa.

The planes would be ready by 2013, as long as the company has orders for 50 -100 units, to make it economically feasible to develop. With little manufacturing in Belfast, the British government was hoping for the boost, but sterling is dear these days.

Bombardier may turn to their factories in Canada, and farm out wing production to a country offering cheaper costs....the U.S.

Thanks to the weak dollar, Belfast could lose out to the Yanks and the favorable exchange rate. There's an economic stimulus that we can all applaud.