Purchasing power in the international market, whether it is for flour or oil, occurs through market exchange rates.

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In comparing America's economy with China's, for instance, whether you convert yuan into dollars at market exchange rates or after adjusting for purchasing power matters a lot.

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With current interest rates on savings accounts, CDs, and money market accounts languishing near zero, expect purchasing-power losses to continue for depositors.

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Additionally, the market is pretty affluent and has a strong purchasing power, so the higher price point at release of the PS3 console was never a deterrent for strong sales.

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Similarly, even with inflation slipping below 3 percent for the past year, that is still enough to cause a loss of 2 percent or more in purchasing power for savings and money market accounts.

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The Citizens Market approach empowers us to shape corporate practices through our purchasing power.

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During peacetime, commodity standards (silver or gold) worked through market forces to achieve price stability, and thus safeguarded the purchasing power of money.

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The Fed should be mandated to follow a price rule conducting monetary policy in accordance with sensitive market prices, such as gold and other commodities, maintaining the purchasing power of the dollar without inflation.

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If an investor is generating a 3% return in their money market account, but inflation is humming along at 4%, the investor is essentially losing purchasing power each year.

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