Parity

With the Canadian dollar being equal (or higher than equal to) the U.S. dollar in recent days, I find it hard purchasing items above the border, when it’s always a better proposition to go below it.

Personally, I am all for a booming ecomony… especially when it benefits me.

But, I don’t understand this disparity between prices. I do realize when items are designed/marketed/sold to other markets, prices are set according to the stock market value of the currencies between the countries doing business. I don’t realize is why don’t they alter the prices afterwards.

If the gas station can change prices 18 times in a ½ hour period, why can’t a merchant do the same? It’s as simple as printing and placing a sticker on an old price – which I know is doable because I’ve worked in retail.

I was never one to buy a $35 hardcover book when it was $22 in the U.S. (I read them from the library, or buy them second-hand), but the issue of parity is pointless.

It makes me want to gas up my Little Lexus, drive down to the U.S., and do a little shopping. Oh, and visit a couple people while I’m there because I might as well get my dollar’s worth (even though hotel rates are crazy).