European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes business news Dollar going straight Down experts say How Low can it go that question was on the lips of american Scricc members last week As they watched the Dollar plummet from 1.8525 Marks on tuesday to a Low of 1.8110 Marks thursday afternoon. The bad news the worst May be yet to come. Tim Foj an economist with Barclays Bank in London says currency traders arc in a bearish mood after watching the . Trade imbalance in August Widen by $12.18 billion. People arc pretty negative toward the Dollar right now Fox Saiof. Those negative attitudes could continue to translate into fewer Marks to the Dollar for Mili tary personnel in West Germany Over the next several weeks the Wisdom of the moment is that the Dollar needs 1o continue to fall in value to put a Dent in by Randy Mcclaln unifying Market in Europe challenges . Companies the Trade deficit. August s figures of course have the country headed in the exact wrong i  traders immediate reaction to the August Trade results had an Impact far beyond Germany. The Dollar went into an end of the week tailspin against most other major Curren cies for example the Buck dropped from 131.os yen to the Dollar on tuesday to 128 yen thursday and from 6.3055 French francs to 6.2050 francs. The military Exchange rate which started the week at 1.84 Marks to the Dollar stood Al 1.80 Marks to the Dollar Friday. That Rale will be in effect at least through monday. Fox said currency traders Are trying to figure out right now which direction the . Govern ment would like to Sec the Dollar head. One school of thought is that the Reagan administration wants the Dollar to remain relatively stable at least through the nov. 8 presidential election. Adherents to this line of thinking arc closely watching the . Federal Reserve to we if the american Central Bank intervenes in world currency markets to prop up the Dollar s value by buying the currency As others dump it. The fed did t make an appearance wednes Day or thursday even though the Buck fell Al most two pfennig each Day. Nevertheless some traders said tear of the Bank entering the Market still helped the Dollar Bounce Back to about 1.82 Marks by Friday afternoon. Another school of thought holds thai the United states wants to Engineer a gradual de Cline in the Dollar s value to improve its Trade deficit which in the Wake of August s figures is on Pace to hit 1138.2 billion by year end. I Don t think the . Would mind a gradual slippage Fox said. Still he pointed out that the United slates does t want a general collapse in the Dollar s value particularly on the eve of the election and on the anniversary of last october s Stock Market  credence to this latter View is the behaviour of . Economic officials in the Wake of thursday s Dollar slide. They be been engaged in some serious jaw Bon ing designed to put August s Trade numbers in a slightly better Light. The party line holds that the projection of a j13b.2 billion Trade deficit for the year is still an improvement of More than j3q Bil lion from 1987 ss170billiqnannualdcficit. One american banker who spoke on the condition that his name not be used said he believes the Dollar will Trade for the next several Days Between 1.80 and 1.84 Marks. If you go below 1.80 Marks though you re in a totally new Arena and anything could Hap pen he said. Dollar buyers Are very  by Sally Jacobsen Brussels Belgium a american companies Are scrambling to make sure they Are not shut out of the lucrative Market that will be formed in Western Europe in 1992. That s when the 12 nations of the european eco nomic Community remove the Many Trade barriers separating them. We re living through a historic period in Europe. It is All happening. You ignore it Al your peril said Eamonn Bales european Community affairs manager for the american chamber of Commerce in Brussels the dec Headquarters. Every aspect of doing business in Europe is going to  in response lop . Companies Are  special offices reviewing business strategies and hiring Consul Tants to gel ready for the next decade when the dec becomes one Market of 320 million Consumers american companies in Europe Are taking the Issue very very seriously said Waller Dipretoro who recently became senior vice president for dec affairs Al Honeywell Many executives said the far reaching changes White spurring greater Competition should Lead to reduced costs and bigger sales. You re going to operate in a much More difficult environment said Antonio Patron government affairs Man Ager for Hewlett Packard in Geneva. " but if you play your cards right you will Benefit  Reagan administration officials though worry that the europeans might use their new found togetherness to try to keep out . And other foreign Competition. Alfred Kingon the . Ambassador to the dec said what i m afraid of. Is that when the barriers come Down the Competition among themselves is going to be so great. That there will be an instinctive protectionist  Kingon said european officials might decide All right Well open it up internally but we ii have to limit it  they insist it won t happen he said "1 Hope they re  Community officials dismiss concerns they Wilt Cre ate a fortress Europe in 1992. These fears Are totally unjustified Willy de Gercz the secs top Trade official said in a recent speech. The idea of the european Market is to reduce the barriers that keep goods services people and Money from moving freely among the 12 dec countries Bel s us Britain Denmark France West Germany recce Ireland Italy Luxembourg Netherlands por Tugal and Spain. They would become Pul simply More like the United states where people and goods with some exceptions May travel freely from stale to state. The europeans have drawn up 285 Steps that need to be taken to remove physical technical and fiscal obstacles to Unity. Their deadline for completing the task is the end of 1992, so far 92 of the measure slave been adopted. The 1992 Pace has quickened dramatically since february when european leaders agreed on measures to solve a Long standing dispute Over the trading bloc s budget. With their Money woes apparently out of the Way officials have turned their attention to fashioning the single Market. Many big . Companies with Strong european tin do not expect discriminatory moves against their operations but rather believe they stand to gain when the barriers Are removed. John Wells external affairs manager at ism s office in Paris cites such statements by dec chief executive Jac ques Dolors As one made in an interview with the International Herald Tribune of Paris companies working in Side die Community will continue to be welcomed. Ism conducts a share of its re research and development in Europe for us ism is a european  we feel Zero  said Stephen Telegdy director of government affairs for Dow chemical in Brus Sels. We feel we stand to gain and have nothing to lose by the european integration Dow estimates the new Europe will mean a savings of 150 million annually from among other things lower transportation costs product standardization and simplification of accounting procedures. Poll says the Public is bearish on both donkeys and elephants by Jeffrey k. Parker new York. Up nearly half of americans feel neither political party offers solutions for personal Money woes and 40 percent feel president Reagan s policies have worsened their financial status according to a recent Survey. The democrats and the republicans each garnered the Confidence of less than 30 percent of the 2,370 adults in the Money Magazine Survey and 46 percent did not pick either party As being Good for their for tunes. Those people seemed to say a plague on both your houses said pollster by Lieberman whose company surveyed a Cross Section of the american Public. I Don t get the impression anyone thinks either party will help with their  the annual Survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent. For the second year running 40 percent of those surveyed said Reagan s policies had caused their Finan Cial situations to deteriorate while Only 13 percent said the policies had helped. Women were More Likely than men to feel that Rea Gan s policies have Hurt them. Rich and poor americans had distinct opinions. Wealthier americans supported the republicans and poorer people sided with the democrats. The Survey showed indecision among people with incomes ranging from s15,000 to s50.000 a year Lieberman said. These people Are very open and that is where the action is going to be. That is Why Bush and Dukakis arc trying to Appeal to that Middle income Section he said. Pocketbook issues could be Pivotal in this elec Tion la Bennan said. Those who Don t expect major economic problems next year Llic optimists will go with the republicans those who do the pessimists will gravitate to the democrats he said. Respondents were not asked specifically about re publican presidential nominee George Bush and Democrat Michael Dukakis because the Survey was taken in the summer before the primaries were finished. When it comes to taxes most americans Are pessimistically nonpartisan favouring a policy of soak the Rich Lieberman said. Fifty nine percent said they would net vote for any candidate who called for an across the Board tax in crease but in percent said they believe their taxes will go up next year no matter who is elected. Sixty nine percent favor increasing taxes on people earning More than s100,000 a year a position opposed by a Mere 9 percent. A candidate supporting tax deductions far College expenses would have the backing of 61 percent of the respondents while one who supports increased Mili tary spending would be opposed by 41 percent on other political issues 59 percent favor barring foreign takeovers of . Companies 14 percent Are opposed 58 percent support taxing imports to reduce the Trade deficit 14 percent oppose it. Is percent support reinstating full individual retirement account deductions 9 percent oppose it. 41 percent support allocating More Federal funds for Day care 19 percent oppose it. 38 percent favor reducing taxes on capital gains19 percent oppose it. Respondents biggest worry was coping with medical costs cited by 53 percent while building a nest egg for retirement was the second biggest worry at 46 percent. People Between Ages 35 and 50 said retirement income was their biggest worry