A sure hint a criteria is invalid

[Aepervius]

Previous administrations have used three factors to determine if a country is a currency manipulator -- a trade surplus with the U.S. of more than $20 billion; a current-account surplus totaling more than 3% of its gross domestic product; and repeatedly devaluing its currency by buying foreign assets that equals to 2% of output a year.

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The last report released in October found that six countries -- China, Japan, Korea, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- met two of the three criteria.

For me , having a single eurozone country, no matter how big it is, matching a criteria for currency manipulation, should be a hint that the argument to detect such manipulation has a serious flaw. Instead Trump (initially) accused Germany of manipulating the Euro. A *strong* exporting country, even without manipulation would fit the "2 out of 3" criteria "a trade surplus with the U.S. of more than $20 billion; a current-account surplus totaling more than 3% of its gross domestic product".

Note : while I agree that from the perspective of the German market the euro is undervalued, I am speaking here of the criteria used by the administration.

 

[Hlafordlaes]

For me , having a single eurozone country, no matter how big it is, matching a criteria for currency manipulation, should be a hint that the argument to detect such manipulation has a serious flaw. Instead Trump (initially) accused Germany of manipulating the Euro. A *strong* exporting country, even without manipulation would fit the "2 out of 3" criteria "a trade surplus with the U.S. of more than $20 billion; a current-account surplus totaling more than 3% of its gross domestic product".

Note : while I agree that from the perspective of the German market the euro is undervalued, I am speaking here of the criteria used by the administration.

Yes, I found this announcement in the morning news hilarious. True, one might argue that the euro acts to dilute the effects a trade surplus would have had on the old Deutschmark, and so the euro unfairly aids German exports. However, this argument can be turned on its head to point out the same is true of many US states that export.

 

[Craig4]

Near as I can follow, The Hair blames Germany for devaluing the Euro since it was Germany that bought up all the Greek bonds which devalued the Euro. It's hard to say since he doesn't explain himself very well.

 

[Matthew Best]

I would have thought someone named Aepervius would know the singular of criteria.

 

[BobTheCoward]

The first two just say trade surpluses is a significant portion of the economy.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

And the biggest currency manipulator of them all is?

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The Hair blames Germany for devaluing the Euro since it was Germany that bought up all the Greek bonds which devalued the Euro.

If that is Germany 'manipulating' the Euro, then who was responsible for the manipulations that caused the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s?

It began in 2007 with a crisis in the subprime mortgage market in the USA, and developed into a full-blown international banking crisis with the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008.[5] Excessive risk-taking by banks such as Lehman Brothers helped to magnify the financial impact globally.[6] Massive bail-outs of financial institutions and other palliative monetary and fiscal policies were employed to prevent a possible collapse of the world's financial system. The crisis was nonetheless followed by a global economic downturn, the Great Recession. The European debt crisis, a crisis in the banking system of the European countries using the euro, followed later.

Endless taxpayer-funded wars designed to prop up the military-industrial complex, injecting literally tons of cash into foreign countries with no accountability, gutting regulations that were designed to prevent manipulation of the global economy - it's what we do!

The first two just say trade surpluses is a significant portion of the economy.

Which cannot occur by just having strong exports, it must be currency manipulation!!! (unless the US does it, then it's because we're better than everyone else...).

 

[zooterkin]

Thread moved from USA Politics to Economics, Business and Finance

Posted By: zooterkin

 

[Brainster]

Near as I can follow, The Hair blames Germany for devaluing the Euro since it was Germany that bought up all the Greek bonds which devalued the Euro. It's hard to say since he doesn't explain himself very well.

That idiot Trump--err. Obama:

Trump's Treasury took the same route as the Obama administration did last year, putting Germany and China on watch for potential problems. All told, it put six trading partners on watch, along with Japan, Korea, Switzerland and Taiwan.

All six countries had been named by Obama's Treasury Department as well.