Tag Archives: dollar

If China Stops Manipulating, Its Currency Will Depreciate

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(2/23/2015) A rare issue on which the two parties in the US Congress agree is the problem of “currency manipulation,” especially on the part of China.   Perhaps spurred by the 2014 appreciation of the dollar and the first signs of a resulting loss of American net exports, Congress is once again considering legislation to attack currencies that are seen as unfairly undervalued. The proposed measures include the threat of countervailing duties against imports from offending countries, although that would be inconsistent with international trading rules. read more

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Currency and Commodity Markets in 2015

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(1/1/2015) This is the third and final installment of an interview on the outlook for the New Year.

Part 3. Forecasts for International Currency and Commodity Markets

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Why Are So Many Commodity Prices Down in the US… Yet Up in Europe?

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Oil prices plummeted 43% during the course of 2014 – good news for oil-importing countries, but bad news for Russia, Nigeria, Venezuela, and other oil exporters. Some attribute the price drop to the US shale-energy boom. Others cite OPEC’s failure to agree on supply restrictions.

But that is not the whole story. The price of iron ore is down, too. So are gold, silver, and platinum prices. And the same is true of sugar, cotton, and soybean prices. In fact, most dollar commodity prices have fallen since the beginning of the year. Though a host of sector-specific factors affect the price of each commodity, the fact that the downswing is so broadly shared – as is often the case with big price swings – suggests that macroeconomic factors are at work. read more

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