Linky Links

Stuff I found interesting or amusing and thought I'd share.

- Tucker Carlson Episode 44.  

- Mookie Betts to be full-time 2nd baseman.

- The rise of the US dollar since the 19th century. The dominance of the dollar is a relatively new thing and should not be assumed to be permanent. 

- Spotify lays off 1,500 workers. CEO keeps job. (HT Steve Landry)

Origin of the Word "Dollar"

"Some sixty miles beyond Prague it turns southwest to form a low range between Czechoslovakia and Germany that is called, in German, the Erzgeburge: the Ore Mountains. The Erzgeburge began to be mined for iron in medieval days. In 1516 a rich silver lode was discovered in Joachimsthal  (St. Joachim's Dale), in the territory of the Count von Schlick, who immediately appropriated the mine. In 1519 coins were first struck from its silver at his command. Joachimsthaler, the name or the new coins, shortened to thaler, became "dollar" in English before 1600. Thereby the U.S. dollar descends from the silver of Joachimsthal.

Surprising history and language nugget from Richard Rhodes' The Making of the Atomic Bomb.

How Many Dongs for a Dollar?

...dollars are being swapped for dong in Vietnam’s vigorous black market.

Yeah - sometimes I can be a real child. Here we are with a potential monetary crisis in Asia and I'm thinking of ways to make some sort of 16 Candles or dick joke. I know it's serious - but come on - their currency is called a dong!

I know it's serious but you would think that investing in the banking or currency of a Communist country would seem like a huge risk in the first place. No matter how much progress toward a market-oriented economy is made in Vietnam – it’s still a Communist country. Plus - over 21% of the country’s exports go to the US (the largest export country) but a very small percentage of their imports come from the US (even less than the 4.2% of imports that come from Malaysia).

Vietnam has over 86 million people which puts the country at about 30% of the population of the US jammed into an area about the size of New Mexico. What’s interesting is that according to the CIA Handbook the migration rate is “-0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)” That means as bad as things are in Vietnam slightly more people are moving in than moving out. With a thriving black market for US dollars – I think you’ll see more Vietnamese in the US sending back money to the “old country”.

I don't pretend to be versed in monetary theory or Asian economic thought but I do know that for a long time I've been hearing people complain about how weak the US dollar has become. Now the US dollar is become strong against another nation's currency and it is considered a crisis? If the US dollar becomes stronger against the Canadian loonie - or any other currency - will that too be a crisis no matter the circumstance?

HT Instapundit