courtesy of aylk @ flickr

"Dude, the dollar's tanking," your correspondent's stateside chat partner IM-ed today with the mildly panicked news that, alongside those ever-rising food and oil prices, at a new record of EUR 1.56 (not to mention a 12-year low against the yen), the European currency just keeps gaining on its trans-Atlantic counterpart. The bitter irony is that neither side is happy with the situation as a weak dollar outlines all too clearly the warning signs of an all but inevitable recession and Europe, longing for weaker euro, sees its exports get less competitive by the day.

Blogger Economy Guy says, "The currency traders are now looking at $1.60 as the next barrier for the Euro to rise to. If this happens quickly, the Dollar would be classified as being in a rout."

America's economy is slowing, shackled by subprime woes, just as Europe's is gearing up. Germany, the EU's top economic dog, has been inadvertantly adding to the euro's rising global stature with unexpected news this month that investor confidence is up. As the slide refuses to level out -- every day this month has brought a new record low -- central bankers in the US and the EU are calling for emergency measures. One of Germany's top economic advisors, of the five so-called "wise men", Peter Bofinger, tells Forbes.com it's high time that the European Central Bank start buying dollars post-haste or face the consequences.