Re: [wg-c] Re: (completely off-topic)

[John Charles Broomfield <jbroom@manta.outremer.com>]

> >dcrocker said:
> >you gave dollars to your hotel, restaurants and taxis?  How about 
> >the bus driver?
> >
> >Or do you mean you exchanged them and/or used a credit card?
> 
> Actually, I just got back from the Cayman Islands.  American dollars 
> and cayman dollars are different values, but both are equally 
> accepted (yes, the currency.)  Same on Bonaire.  Same in Jamaica. 
> While it isn't completely on point, it does show that there are few 
> absolutes :-)

Quite a few Caribbean islands have what is called the EC-dollar (Eastern
Caribbean). I think in banking terms it's also known as BIWI. For economic
reasons, its exchange rate is FIXED to the $US (aprox 2.7 EC to 1 US or
something like that). They only have their currency for prestigious reasons,
but even so they have bowed to a single economic union factor which unites
all those Caribbean states that use it (maybe a good 15 or so, not sure on
those numbers).
Seeing that the exchange rate is FIXED to the $US, it is not surprising that
in all of them the accept interchangeably US dollars. They generally note
the prices in both currencies. You will also find that throughout the world,
in countries with weak or declining currencies, a US dollar is accepted
quite nicely, as it gives the store-person a sense of stability that he
rarely has with his own currency, and is not likely to devaluate three times
before he takes it to the bank (where it might get ripped off again).
In general, when going to developed countries, you will have a harder time
to flash your $US around, and maybe even get scoffed at completely... (which
is not to say it is impossible, just as it is not impossible to make
yourself understood in French in the middle of NY, just that little bit more
complicated).

Yours, John Broomfield.