"Newsmaker" of the Year

It's time for the "wrap-up" stories--the biggest newsmakers, biggest celebrity disasters, ten most important news stories you don't know about, etc. In the U.S., Time chose Vladimir Putin as its Person of the Year. Maclean's chose Conrad Black. Time Canada chose--the loonie.

Yep, thanks to the credit crunch in the U.S., the loonie had a banner year. Compared to the U.S. greenback, the loonie is worth more, although its actual purchasing power in international markets apparently isn't all that different. However, what has mattered (to me) in 2007 is that the loonie's rise and fall seems inversely related to where I need to have money. When I'm bringing money over to Canada, the loonie rises and I "lose" on the exchange rate. When I have money in Canada to use for bills in the U.S., the loonie falls.

Thank goodness it's hanging around close to par these days. The banks still have to get their share, and nothing that's "equal" really is so. Still, I have less mental arithmetic to do, and that's always good.