PARITY!

[Eaquae Legit]

It's a good day today. I remember being at $0.61.

$1.01!

[Jebus]

CLARITY?

Though I'm gonna have a shot at a petrol (gas) prices...

[Eaquae Legit]

No. Rather, today the loonie was worth more than the USD.

[Jebus]

Ah yes, of course, parity. ::nods head::

Why is the canuck buck called the loonie?

[daPyr0x]

Guess.

[Yebra]

£1 = $2.00 (US)
£1 = $2.05 (Canada)

Still winning.

[Eaquae Legit]

Ah, but I'm not comparing to the pound. I'm mostly concerned with the USD, seeing as they're our largest trading partner and I live right by the border.

[Yebra]

Pfft, just because it's far more relevant to, well, everyone here doesn't make it more important! What kind of crazy logic is that?

[neo-dragon]

But aren't we still paying more for everything though? For instance, a hardcover book priced at $27.95 USD still goes for $34.95 Canadian. How does that work?

[mr_thebrain]

your economy is crappier than ours is. that's how.

[Eaquae Legit]

But aren't we still paying more for everything though? For instance, a hardcover book priced at $27.95 USD still goes for $34.95 Canadian. How does that work?

Publishers are slow to update cover prices, and the books currently on the shelves were printed months ago. Besides, why should they lower prices now that we're all used to the difference anyway?

[Jayelle]

I'm so excited. I heard about it on the radio this morning.

I'm so going to order a pile of stuff online.


Woo. Also, Hoo.

[Eaquae Legit]

I did that too, Jan. Bought seasons 1 & 2 of Beauty and the Beast, and Roar. I managed to hold myself back from all three seasons of Doctor Who, though.

[zeroguy]

But aren't we still paying more for everything though? For instance, a hardcover book priced at $27.95 USD still goes for $34.95 Canadian. How does that work?

Publishers are slow to update cover prices, and the books currently on the shelves were printed months ago. Besides, why should they lower prices now that we're all used to the difference anyway?

So all we need to do is buy a bunch of books in the US, smuggle them into Canada...

This is also the first time I've seen/heard the word 'parity' used when not in computer or mathematical contexts. It just means "equal" here, or something?

[Eaquae Legit]

Pretty much. The dollars on both sides of the border are of equal value, relative to each other (and darn close, internationally, although the US is still ahead by a fraction of a penny).

Edit: Whoops. xe.com lists them both at exactly the same value, relative to the euro and the pound. So hey, we're doing well all 'round.

[starlooker]

When I first saw this thread, the first thing that came to mind was insurance parity for mental health.

Context is everything, I guess.

[VelvetElvis]

I thought about babies. As in, a woman who has never been pregnant is in a state of nulliparity. Seeing the actual subject, I feel like a complete idiot.

[neo-dragon]

When I first saw the title I thought that someone had mis-spelled "party". So yeah, I think I win the too dumb to understand the title award.

[anonshadow]

Then I've won it with you. That was my first thought, too. I was even starting to be kind of ashamed at Ali, who I expected better than that from.

[Gravity Defier]

I think that's unfair. Why can't Ali like parties enough to post about them, if she chose to do so?

I have no such expectations of snobbery from you, Ali.

[Eaquae Legit]

But expectations of spellingness?

[ratesjul]

Just because the cover prices of the books show a difference, that shouldn't mean the bookstores have to SELL them at that difference.

here in NZ, the prices of books are all determined by price stickers, not by whatever's printed on the cover. Of course, that's largely because the cover only has US/CAN, but that's not the point.

It would make sense to sell those books at that price if that's related to what they paid the publishers for them, but if the publishers drop their sale price (regardless of what's printed on the book cover) then the booksellers could just price-sticker the books for the time being.

At any rate, it's good that the publishers are thinking of changing their cover prices. Here in NZ, a paperback can cost $25-$36, and hardbacks are almost unheard of. Teen fiction is usually $18-$25, but the US equivalent at present is $12-$17, not the US$7 or so the book costs. But then, I hate NZ bookstores and book prices, and there are lots of good reasons for that.

[Rei]

Booksellers love to take advantage of the pre-printed prices out here. And if I recall, part of that is due to publishers taking advantage of their back-stock having the prices on them already.

[ratesjul]

That doesn't surprise me. Everyone wants to make money.

A few months ago, when the NZ/US rate was getting closer to 80c, all the newspapers whined about how much money NZ exporters were losing.

Then it went back around the 70c mark - and all they can talk about is how much the price of petrol will go up.
Get a grip! Try and be BALANCED for once, perhaps?

[Rei]

But what would the media do if there were nothing to panic over? They'd be out of a job!

[ratesjul]

Good!


...


...

Oh. right. then I'd be out of one too. Um ...

I don't want them to not panic, I want them to be balanced. Not to use shock tactics.

[Rei]

I'd prefer that, too. I do wonder how much of it is because the people up top think people will stop paying attention if there aren't shocking or fear-inducing things, and how much is that people really would stop paying attention if there weren't these things.

[ratesjul]

I think you've got something there.

News is about more than just the news. It's about ratings, and viewer numbers and readership. It's about advertising dollars, and those increase with the number of readers/listeners.

It's about what the news is, but it's also about getting there first, or being the biggest or the brightest - but most of all, about being the first.

And, I guess, this is a poor picture of the human race that it paints. But, whilst some of us would tune in to the balanced views; so many people prefer to go for sensationalism. I guess partly in an attempt to prove their own normality.

What a world we live in.