3/7     ING Direct U.S. pays 2.6% interest rate now. I looked up and ING in
        Canada pays 2.4%, ING in Australia pays over 5%, and ING in Spain
        pays 6%. That got me curious. I'm pretty sure this is all irrelevant
        unless I know what the inflation rate is, and how each currency
        exchanges relative to US dollar. Is there a site somewhere that can
        give me historical data on inflation and historical exchange rates
        all in one chart or one site? Thanks.
            \- Hello, For a bt of theoretical perspective, you may wish to look
               up "Covered/Uncovered Interest Rate Parity", "Real Interest
               Parity", "Purachsing Power Parity". There are lots of studies
               over how well these hold and deviate in the short and long runs.
               You can also look at the BigMac and Latte Indexes for the cases
               of involving the price of good [as opposed to interest rates,
               the price of money].
               \_ What happened to the oky,thx?
        \_ http://www.oanda.com/convert/fxhistory
           This is telling me that US dollar to Australian exchange rate was
           1.6 in 2003 to 1.3 in 2005. That, and the fact that they get a
           much better interest rate than us, makes me wonder why I'm keeping
           any money in US bank. I guess you can argue FDIC or some excuse.
            \- Hello, For a bt of theoretical perspective, you may wish to look
               up "Covered/Uncovered Interest Rate Parity", "Real Interest
               Parity", "Purachsing Power Parity". There are lots of studies
               over how well these hold and deviate in the short and long runs.
               You can also look at the BigMac and Latte Indexes for the cases
               of involving the price of good [as opposed to interest rates,
               the price of money].
               \_ What happened to the oky,thx?
                  \_ Hello, BTW, you cant blindly look at these kinds of
                     historical graphs or cross country comparisons. For
                     example, there may be some sudden discontinuitites
                     due to external events like say Regulation Q changes.
                     Especialyl for countries with more controlled mkts
                     you may need more info about that country, e.g. for
                     certain kinds of accounts, senior citizens in India
                     are given slightly higher interest rates.
                     \- BTW, people interested in cross-border issues
                        may want to read about the "Tobin Tax" debate
                        as well. ok tnx.
        \_ I thought ING's interest rate has more to do with how the central
           banks of the various countries are setting their interest rates.
           Inflation rate would influence the central banks' decisions
           but it's likely just one of many factors.  I don't know about
           other countries, but Australia's economy is just plain hot,
           mainly due to the China led commodities boom, so you get cool
           exchange rate appreciation plus nice interest yield.  But yes,
           historical charts on inflation and exchange rates would be
           nice.
        \_ I think the summary is that US economy is fucked and will continue
           to be fucked for a while and that keeping your money in US currency
           is just dumb dumb dumb. Yes I hate America.
           \_ No no no. We **know** you hate America. We asked you why.
        \_ Why is the Afghan to US exchange rate completely flat? Ditto with
           the Iraq Dinar to US dollar. What does this say, that Iraq/Afghan
           dollar are exactly the same as US dollar?
           http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=USD&to=AFA
           http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=USD&to=IQD
           \_ You mean like how the Chinese Yuan is pegged to the dollar
              along with the Argentine peso? Egads, it's a conspiracy!
           \_ Many currencies are pegged to the dollar.  -tom
              \_ Afghanistan and Iraq are like the 51st and 52nd States in
                 the U.S., of course the exchange rate is the same. DUHHHH.
   http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushiraqidinar2.htm -/