Word: dollarized
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Within the U.S., the imbalance is mainly seen as the product of protectionist policies by China, in particular China's refusal to let its currency, the yuan, appreciate against the dollar. There's certainly something to this - it's now universally agreed just about everywhere but China that a freely floating yuan would be worth significantly more than the 15 cents it currently goes for. By keeping its currency's value artificially low, China makes its products cheaper in the U.S., thus encouraging imbalanced trade. (See a story about China's consumers and the world economy...
...when China linked its currency to the dollar in the early 1990s, it was out not to create trade surpluses but to carve out a bit of stability in turbulent global currency markets. During the emerging-market currency crises of 1997 and 1998, China's success in keeping the yuan fixed at 8.3 yuan to the dollar was applauded in the West as a major contribution to averting financial chaos. Since 2005, China has been willing to allow the yuan to appreciate a bit (the current exchange rate is 6.8 yuan to the dollar). It just hasn't been willing...
...problem is that after a decade of strong growth in China in particular, we now have an unbalanced system in which the dollar is overvalued against the Chinese yuan (among other emerging-market currencies). That has contributed to big U.S. trade deficits and, as China built up a huge stash of dollars it needed to put somewhere, to the credit bubble that precipitated the financial crisis. There's widespread agreement that this setup has to change but little agreement about how to change it. Which is a risky situation...
...understands global monetary arrangements; the best that experts in the field seem to be able to do is worry vaguely. So what are the rest of us to do other than worry vaguely? Think twice about traveling to Europe, maybe, because it's really expensive. Hope a somewhat weaker dollar will help revive this country's beaten-down manufacturing sector - as seems to be happening - but also hope a dollar slide doesn't turn into a collapse. And put at least some of your money into investments (foreign stocks, gold, other commodities) that stand a chance of thriving even...
...ideal health care system is one designed to deliver the maximum value for patients, measured by the health outcomes achieved per dollar spent,” Porter said...