Here's why lots of folks like a weak dollar.

Lets say last year an American Widget cost $5 to France and this year it costs $4.75. Marcel needs a new widget and he can buy the French widget for $5 or the American widget for $4.75. For several moths, patriotic Frenchmen refuse to buy American widgets. But...what the heck what's a widget? So widget imports increase, American manufacturers need to make more widgets, so they have to tool-up and finally, hire widget makers. Widget tool and tie companies have to retool and add another shift. For the French to remain competitive, they have to match the widget price.

It is not a zero-sum game. That is, the French have an opportunity to meet the lower priced widget by cutting costs, cutting profit, or innovating.

The downside appears to be an increase in prices Americans pay for imported goods. But, that makes American products more competitive locally, too. Suddenly, Chinese widgets which used to udner cut American widgets at $4.75 apeice are now the same price. American retailers, faced with comparable prices, are free to choose the product without concern for wholesale price differences. Consumers can choose whetehr to buy a local product or an import.

Oil prices, being a product of predominantly foreign origin, also go up. Environmentalists have been whining about "underpriced oil". Well, it ain't underpriced now, by golly. So when it comes to buying a car, suddenly fuel economy becomes a greater issue. Maybe that Prius ain't so bad, after all. Except for its so expensive compared to Detroit--recall that the weak dollar has hurt the import price differential for cars as well as widgets. Home-grown economy cars become cheaper, too.

etc.

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