# Exchange rates for US and Australia. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 2, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498 "2003-08-02T03:56:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/1 "2003-08-02T03:56:47Z")
I’m some kind of idiot when trying to understand exchange rates. Is the American dollar worth more or less than Australias? ---
**Author:** ![Bartholomule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bartholomule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartholomule)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/2 "2003-08-02T04:03:43Z")
As of today, an Australian dollar is worth 65 cents. ---
**Author:** ![starman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@starman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/3 "2003-08-02T04:05:16Z")
The US dollar is worth considerably more than the Aussie dollar. -Oli ---
**Author:** ![Bartholomule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@Bartholomule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bartholomule)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/4 "2003-08-02T04:06:07Z")
(That’s 65 U.S. cents, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/5 "2003-08-02T04:10:07Z")
Great, Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@Boo\_Boo\_Foo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boo_Boo_Foo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/6 "2003-08-02T05:20:15Z")
When I first visited the USA in 1976, the Australian dollar was fixed at US$1.16 believe it or not. Since then, slowly the Australian economy has receded in relative terms. But interestingly, a teacher say, who earns $45,000 pa in the USA can live equally comfortably here in Australia on AUS $45,000 pa. The quality of lifestyle within Australia, excluding the exchange rate, is roughly on a par with the USA. We have some pretty knowledgeable students of economics here amongst us - I’d love to read a quick lesson on why the relative worth of the Australian dollar has fallen from it’s 1976 high of $1.16. ---
**Author:** ![Caught\_Work](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Caught\_Work](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caught_Work)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/7 "2003-08-02T12:34:53Z")
Blame Keating. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/8 "2003-08-02T14:31:52Z")
The major reason the $A has fallen relative to the $US since the 80s is that the world prices of commodities that make up Australia’s major exports (broadacre agriculture, metals and coal) have fallen, whilst our domestic price level has not. ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/9 "2003-08-03T05:13:18Z")
A great website for checking current exchange rates: [http://www.xe.com/](http://www.xe.com/). The main page has most major currencies, and if you “Click for more currencies,” you can find all the less-common ones. ---
**Author:** ![QuasiQubit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/9dc877/32.png) [@QuasiQubit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuasiQubit)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2003, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/exchange-rates-for-us-and-australia/192498/10 "2003-08-03T05:51:15Z")
A good currency converter @ [xe.com](http://xe.com). . . bah beaten to it