currency manipulation

Will Congress Get Tough on China's Currency Manipulation?

china currencyFor the most part it seems the Senate likes to blow smoke when there is little fire to take action. Will this time be different?

Today the Senate voted 79 to 19 to allow Bill S. 1619: Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011, to proceed for amendments and a floor vote. The bill is a long overdue measure to provide for identification of misaligned currency. The bill provides a mechanism to require corrective action by the offending currency manipulator nation to correct the currency peg misalignment or face anti-dumping type tariffs. Reuters has a plain English summary of what the bill does. Beyond this cloture vote, the question becomes, will the Senate really do something and pass something to take on China and their flagrant undervaluing of their currency?

Uncle Sam should no longer be Uncle Sucker

The S&P Debt Downgrade: What It Means

EisenhowerOriginally published by OpEd News.

On Friday, August 5, the credit rating agency, Standard & Poor's, downgraded US debt from AAA to AA+.

Gerald Celente's view that S&P's downgrade of the US Treasury's credit rating reflects a loss of confidence in the political system was confirmed by the rating agency itself. S&P explained the downgrade as the result of heightened political risks, not economic ones. The game of chicken over the debt ceiling increase and the GOP's ability to block tax increases indicate that "America's governance and policymaking is becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable"

The reduction in the government's credit rating to AA+ from AAA is a cosmetic change. It remains a very high investment grade rating and is unlikely to have any effect on interest rates. It is revealing that despite the downgrade, US bond prices rose. It was stocks that fell. The financial press is blaming the stock market decline on the bond downgrade. However, stocks are falling because the economy is falling. Too many jobs have been moved offshore.

Friday Movie Night - Interview with U.S.-China Economic & Security Review Commissioner

hot buttered popcorn It's Friday Night! Party Time!   Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!

 

If you haven't heard of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission you should. If you care about our massive trade deficit and U.S. jobs, this commission has written some absolutely frightening reports on China trade and security.

Tonight's movie is a long interview with the Commission member Patrick Mulloy, giving an overview on some of the commission's findings.

 

Mulloy, Part I

 

Bernanke Say What?

bernakesaywhat.jpg
Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke gave one hell of a speech at the G-20 implying emerging economies are to blame their own inflation and currency manipulation could lead to another global financial crisis.

Firstly, Bernanke's speech, Global Imbalances: Links to Economic and Financial Stability, is reprinted below, in it's entirety. The reason to reprint the speech in total is too many in the press are interpreting his speech, many incorrectly, so I suggest reading what he said directly first.

Pages