Shadow Government

A front-row seat to the Republicans' debate over foreign policy, including their critique of the Biden administration.

China: Not a currency manipulator after all

By Phil Levy 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 ...

By Phil Levy

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). 

Phil Levy is the chief economist at Flexport and a former senior economist for trade on the Council of Economic Advisers in the George W. Bush administration. Twitter: @philipilevy

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