{"id":185713,"date":"2014-08-29T18:22:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-29T23:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2014\/08\/29\/jared-bernstein-calls-for-dropping-reserve-currency-status-for-the-dollar-in-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2014-08-29T18:22:00","modified_gmt":"2014-08-29T23:22:00","slug":"jared-bernstein-calls-for-dropping-reserve-currency-status-for-the-dollar-in-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/2014\/08\/29\/jared-bernstein-calls-for-dropping-reserve-currency-status-for-the-dollar-in-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Jared Bernstein Calls for Dropping Reserve Currency Status for the Dollar in the New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

His argument is rather similar to the one that I have, that the dollar’s status as a reserve currency artificially inflates the value of the currency, along with contributing to the excessive financialization of our economy, but the fact that a former Obama staffer is doing it in the Times<\/i> is significant<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There are few truisms about the world economy, but for decades, one has been the role of the United States dollar as the world\u2019s reserve currency. It\u2019s a core principle of American economic policy. After all, who wouldn\u2019t want their currency to be the one that foreign banks and governments want to hold in reserve?<\/span>

<\/span>But new research reveals that what was once a privilege is now a burden, undermining job growth, pumping up budget and trade deficits and inflating financial bubbles. To get the American economy on track, the government needs to drop its commitment to maintaining the dollar\u2019s reserve-currency status.<\/span>

<\/span>\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span>

<\/span>In 2013, America\u2019s trade deficit was about $475 billion. Its deficit with China alone was $318 billion.<\/span>

<\/span>Though Mr. Austin doesn\u2019t say it explicitly, his work shows that, far from being a victim of managed trade, the United States is a willing participant through its efforts to keep the dollar as the world\u2019s most prominent reserve currency.<\/span>

<\/span>\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span>

<\/span>Note that as long as the dollar is the reserve currency, America\u2019s trade deficit can worsen even when we\u2019re not directly in on the trade. Suppose South Korea runs a surplus with Brazil. By storing its surplus export revenues in Treasury bonds, South Korea nudges up the relative value of the dollar against our competitors\u2019 currencies, and our trade deficit increases, even though the original transaction had nothing to do with the United States.<\/span>

<\/span>\u2026\u2026\u2026<\/span>

<\/span>But while more balanced trade might raise prices, there\u2019s no reason it should persistently increase the inflation rate. We might settle into a norm of 2 to 3 percent inflation, versus the current 1 to 2 percent. But that\u2019s a price worth paying for more and higher-quality jobs, more stable recoveries and a revitalized manufacturing sector. The privilege of having the world\u2019s reserve currency is one America can no longer afford.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s really nothing new, but the fact that it’s Mr. Bernstein and the New York Times<\/i> does appear to indicate that this idea is gaining currency.<\/p>\n

About f%$#ing time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His argument is rather similar to the one that I have, that the dollar’s status as a reserve currency artificially inflates the value of the currency, along with contributing to the excessive financialization of our economy, but the fact that a former Obama staffer is doing it in the Times is significant: There are few …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1080,973,1016,1017,1064],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-185713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-currency","category-economy","category-international-commerce","category-international-finance","category-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=185713"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/185713\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=185713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=185713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.panix.com\/~msaroff\/40years\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=185713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}