US Dollar Graphs

Click graphs to enlarge.
There has been a lot of concern lately about the fall of the USD, see the front cover of The Economist magazine above. Over the last year, the USD has fallen by about 5% vs. the yen, and 11-12% vs. the euro and pound.

The first graph above shows the monthly trade-weighted exchange rate value of the USD vs. a broad group of currencies from 1975. As the graph shows, the USD has depreciated over the last 5 years vs. a broad group of currencies, but it is actually stronger today than during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The second graph shows the same exchange rate index on a daily basis over the last 5 years. As the graph shows, the value of the USD has been fairly stable in 2005 and 2006 and has depreciated by less than two percent over the last two years (from 110 to 108).