The Truth about Trade Deficits and Currency Manipulation
Michael Collins, 12 January 2021
The U.S. Treasury Department has finally determined that China is a currency manipulator, putting currency manipulation and trade deficits back in the news. Trade deficits, currency manipulation and the strong dollar are complicated economic forces that directly affect the future of American manufacturing. Let’s look at how they affect manufacturing and why we must face the truth and do something around these issues, regardless of the politics.
Trade Deficits: Let me begin by saying that, yes, trade deficits have and will continue to hurt American manufacturing, although many politicians, economists, and industry associations disagree.
Michael Froman, former trade representative: “Every legitimate economist said that measuring trade policy by the size of the goods deficit is probably not a passing grade in a basic economics class,”
Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard economist: “The trade deficit is a terrible metric for judging economic policy.” Continue reading “Article: The Truth about Trade Deficits and Currency Manipulation”
Timothy Franz Geithner is a former American central banker who served as the 75th United States Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama, from 2009 to 2013. He was the President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 2003 to 2009, following service in the Clinton administration. Since March 2014, he has served as president and managing director of Warburg Pincus, a private equity firm headquartered in New York City. At the New York Fed, Geithner helped manage crises involving Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and the American International Group. Geithner graduated from Dartmouth College (BA) and Johns Hopkins University (MA).