Message to US: Stop Manipulating the Dollar
It’s getting to the point where you can’t find a product in China that doesn’t come from the US. The cars are Ford, the computers Apple, and the financial services are from New York. The artificially weak US Dollar has upset the natural balance of trade and distorted markets. Cup of Cha urges Congress to at to fix this problem immediately.
If you talk to a Bush Administration official or your typical congressperson they will surely argue that the US Dollar’s drop is a reflection of the market. Nonsense I say! Surely no one could believe that the US Dollar naturally reached a ratio of 1.53 to the Euro! I mean, that would take economic mismanagement to levels that are nearly impossible. Only a few years ago 88 cents bought you a Euro.
The Renminbi is now nearly 7:1 to the Dollar, and it will probably be almost 6:1 by year’s end. This is simply not fair to the average Chinese worker. It is time to act before all manufacturing jobs leave China. The country has already done everything in its power to strip workers of health care, benefits, and in some cases, pay. And now they have to deal with this! An absurdly weak US Dollar. At this pace Americans will need to re-learn how to make socks, crappy toys and cheap electronics.
America, stop this charade. We all know that even the Iraq War, high oil prices, a mortgage crisis, a recession, the Afghanistan War, the War on Terror, a trillion-dollar deficit, the War on Drugs, a crashing stock market, and a Writers Guild strike would not be enough to drive the dollar to its current levels. Wait. Holy crap, this wasn’t planned!
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nanheyangrouchuan responds:
Posted: March 6th, 2008 at 10:40 am →
Smithers! My plan is working to a T! Now time for my liniment rub.
Turtlewind responds:
Posted: March 6th, 2008 at 3:53 pm →
Ha. But of course, even if the low USD is a result of US government policy, there’s still a big difference in the level of government interference between the two currencies. The dollar is low because of the market’s perception of economic conditions inside vs outside the US, whereas the RMB is low because the exchange rate is set by the Chinese Communist Party.
One little-remarked side effect of the plummeting US dollar is the exchange rate between the Euro and the RMB. Because the Chinese currency is still largely tied to the USD, its value in Euros is actually falling (1 euro is now about 10.8 RMB, compared to a rate of 10:1 not too long ago) - an annoying outcome for people like me who are paid in RMB but have debts in Euros. Something to think about the next time you read yet another news report about the rise of the yuan.
Larry responds:
Posted: March 6th, 2008 at 10:49 pm →
When do you think Chinese will start complaining about poisoned Ford vehicles, and US financial services catching fire, and Apple making fake Lenovo’s ? The US must be prepared for such eventuality. May be US should declare right now that it is the importers’ responsibility to ensure quality.
nanheyangrouchuan responds:
Posted: March 7th, 2008 at 1:34 pm →
@Larry,
Beijing already complains about every perceived imported defect and poison pill meant to deliberately harm the Chinese people and hurt the Chinese nation.
g Lo responds:
Posted: March 7th, 2008 at 5:19 pm →
“The Renminbi is now nearly 7:1 to the Dollar, and it will probably be almost 6:1 by year’s end.”
That’s a bold assertion.