The currency war is phoney
The core of the "currency wars" – in which China has been accused, primarily by the US, of undervaluing the renminbi to boost its exports – is a simple piece of arithmetic. The US has only a quarter of China or India's population.
America can remain the world's largest economy only if average Chinese or Indian living standards never exceed 25% of its own. As – rightly – China and India will never accept this, a peaceful global outcome therefore requires the US to abandon its undesirable and impossible goal.
The immediate political background is September's vote by America's House of Representatives threatening China with tariffs unless it increases the exchange rate of its currency.… Seguir leyendo »