China: Not a currency manipulator after all

Posted By Phil Levy Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - 11:15 PM Share

I'm just digesting the news that the Obama administration has not labeled China a currency manipulator. I'm glad they didn't. It's good policy, and this was predicted by a number of people, but the hypocrisy is stunning. At a time when China was actually appreciating its currency against the dollar, the Democrats ripped the Bush administration for not slapping on the "manipulator" label. Now, at a time when China has held its currency basically fixed against the dollar, the same folks argue that China doesn't meet the same technical definition (though nothing has changed in terms of currency since Secretary Geithner quoted Obama as saying China was a manipulator in his confirmation hearings).

EXPLORE:CHINA, ECONOMICS, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION

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4:50 AM ET

April 16, 2009

just a signaling game...again

One can hardly expect politicians to take "technical definitions" seriously. This looks to me more like a signal for goodwill than anything else.
Zhou Xiaochuan's earlier proposition of a global currency might be think of in the same light, a muscle-flexing excercise of sort and a process to sort out who's in league with who.

BABA BOO

4:48 PM ET

April 16, 2009

hypocrisy

now ain't that the pot calling the kettle black?

Shadow Government is a blog about U.S. foreign policy under the Obama administration, written by experienced policy makers from the loyal opposition and curated by Peter D. Feaver and William Inboden.