I am interested to hear the opinions of the people who have lived here for 5 -20 years. I have only been here a short time, but from what I have experienced and what I have seen about the past on DR1. the economy is in pretty much the worst shape it's been in for a long long time, even according to my Dominican friends. I see that the government is manipulating the exchange rate and the interest rates, in an effort to lower prices and get the money out of the banks and into the economy, but is this working? It seems that the dollar buys less pesos, the pesos buy less at the supermarket, etc., and the interest rates are now so low that people who were "living of the interest" are really hurting. I am not in the tourist industry so I don't know, but I would suspect that with the dollar having less buying power, that tourism and excursions are down--after all, people who are looking to buy a cheap all-inclusive vacation have other options such as Jamaica, Cancun, etc. and why would they choose the D.R. if it's not going to be a bargain? There is the perceived language barrier, the lack of reliable electricity, the terrible roads, and let's face it--an AI resort is an AI resort wherever you go, more or less. As long as there's a nice beach, sunny skies, and it's a bargain, that's what the average AI tourist is interested in. I also see posts about people who have come here to live and invest who are now so negatively affected by the economy, they are thinking of leaving and taking their businesses with them. Plus with the prices as they are now, it is really not so cheap to relocate here--for the same money you can live elsewhere where there are more conveniences, reliable electricity, decent roads, less graft and corruption, etc. All of this points to more economic difficulties for the native Dominican people: with less jobs and less money via tourism, coupled with the high prices, I just don't see where anyone, native, or expatriate, is benefitting from these measures allegedly designed to improve the economy. Sure, people who bought pesos in bulk when the rate was 50:1 and sell now can make a financial killing, but only if they can keep the dollars for speculation and not have to reconvert them to pesos to live on. Or people who have enough to invest in land and/or real estate which will obviously appreciate given enough time will eventually make out. People with that kind of money are probably living quite comfortably despite the presesnt situation anyway. I guess I would like to know what the long-timers "predict" will happen with the peso rate and/or interest rates? Is this a storm worth riding out, or is it just the beginning of a long period of the same? Perhaps I am just not familiar enough with the county, its history, etc. to be assessing things accurately. What do you other DR1'ers think?