24 Days to Go

I've got fond memories of the Royal Bank of Canada ATM on Hollis Street in Halifax.  During my year teaching there, I regularly withdrew Canadian dollars from my Delaware County checking account, at the approximate ratio of $1.50 Canadian to $1.00 U. S.

The current currency exchange rate between us and our neighbors to the north is about $1.30 CA to 1 of ours.  What's not immediately apparent in these or any other similarly shifting ratios is the role played by our Congress.

Article 1 Section 8 Clause 5 of our Constitution gives Congress the power to regulate the value of ... foreign coin.  Our market economy and entities like the Federal Reserve do the grunt work in that context.  But my fortuitous financial experiences at the RBC ATM indicate that Congress has the more overarching role.

Several Committees in the House - particularly those in the category called Financial Services - monitor and manage such facets of our economy as capital markets, financial institutions, and monetary policy.   As is the case in any context, and as is documented at the link immediately above, the party that controls the House controls all its Committees.  That makes things like exchange rates credible testimony to the need for at least 23 more Democratic seats i the House of Representatives.