The developing world's call for a new global reserve currency to replace the U.S. dollar is a lot of "sound and fury signifying not a whole lot," says economist David H. Wang. Moreover, the effort is being led by none other than China, "a curious move, to say the least," said Wang, a China expert who grew up in Shanghai before moving permanently to the United States for graduate school.
For now, BRICbats are just that: talk
The BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) nation's effort won't amount to much because none of the central banks of the nations have demonstrated independence from political pressure -- a value that ranks second only to the rule of law and transparency as the foundation for a fair, honest, and ethical financial system, Wang said.
"If you do not have an independent central bank, it makes it very hard, if not impossible for a central bank to protect the value of money over time. And if inflation is not contained, it is impossible to attain global reserve currency status," Wang said.
Further, China's recent comments to talk-down the dollar, "are deeply problematic, and ultimately self-defeating," he added.
"Beijing's stance was another example of 'hard Economics 101 lessons learned,' " Wang said. "Frankly, it was a ridiculous stance, which they've since realized and are now slowly backing away from. I mean, why would you talk-down the dollar when you hold more than $1.2 trillion in dollar-denominated assets and reserves? You're decreasing the value of your own assets, Beijing soon realized this, so you'll see very few specific criticisms of the dollar in the future."
Monetary Analysis: A better tactic, Wang said: Take measures to help the U.S. reduce its trade deficit, such as BRIC nations increasing their consumption of U.S. goods and services, which will eliminate a structural imbalance in the global economy, and strengthen everyone. Nevertheless, the BRIC global reserve currency ruminations will probably speed U.S. Congressional efforts to cut the budget deficit via spending cuts and tax increases, he added, strengthening the dollar and the global financial system, as BRIC nations continue with their own hard work: toward establishing independent central banks.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-08-2009 @ 11:43PM
clikdawg said...
They play a deep game, Joe -- there's what you see on the surface ("a ridiculous, self-defeating stance"), and then there's a whole series of subsidiary objectives; the foremost of which would be (as I've noted before) to score propaganda points in the Third World.
It's like when Perry Mason asks a question so far out of line that the judge allows Burger's objection and gives Mason a stern warning -- Mason apologizes ("backs away") but rest assured the jury got the point.
Really, this is RadPol 101, Joe ...
7-09-2009 @ 6:49AM
Vladimir said...
Wang's statement (about independent central banks being important to protect the value of money over time - he means inflation) is not correct. If the reader analyzes by himself the history of inflations in the USA or Russia for instance, he will quite easily realize that inflation was often artificially created by the central banks themselves.
Just my 5 cents...
7-10-2009 @ 7:28PM
LARRY said...
WITH THE IDIOT OBAMA IN CHARGE EVERYONE WANTS OUT OF THE DOLLAR---WHAT THE U.S. NEEDS IS A GOOD LEADER NOT A WIMP THAT IS SLOWLY GIVING AWAY THE U.S.