Suitcase and World: October 2008

Friday, October 17, 2008

What a difference a financial crisis makes.


I
just bought my plane ticket from Istanbul to Kayseri. It cost me 104 TRY (Turkish Lira). At today's exchange rate which is 1USD = 1.496 TRY that comes to about $69. The same ticket would have cost me about $88 back in January when the rate was 1USD = 1.18 TRY. Unbelievable price drop.

2008 will go down in history for two memorable events. The first is the nomination of an African American, Barack Obama, as the Democratic Presidential nominee. The second is the global financial crisis that started to unfold earlier this year when Bear Sterns collapsed.