In exploring the realm of information that is the Internet, I have discovered the fluid medium of the blogosphere to be an ever-morphing arena of common knowledge and technical expertise. During my adventures in this online arena, I discovered two blogs focusing on economics with interesting things to say about the status of the American dollar. Searching for a way to enter the online fray, I’ve loosed my initial informational volley in the form of two posts on different blogs. The first blog is written by CLS, a Blogspot user with a frank partiality for liberalism. The blog itself is called “Classically Liberal” and holds no illusions concerning bias. Though the author is not known to be of great repute, his stances, though partial, are based in solid groundwork for the most part and meets the criteria of a Webby Award winning website. His focus is the effect the Bush administration on the strength of the dollar, and how the incompetence of the administration has directly led to the devaluing of U.S. currency in comparison to the other major currencies. The second blog is titled Thomas Palley: Economics for Democratic and Open Societies. The author is Dr. Thomas Palley (see left), an economist with a degree from Oxford University and Yale University. He has written for several magazines including The Atlantic Monthly, American Prospect, and Nation. He was also the former Chief Economist with the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. His post revolves around the issue of rampant inflation in China and the Chinese response to it.
Comment
First off, as a fellow detractor of President George W. Bush, I agree to an extent that the blame for much of the economic disaster ensuing today should be laid at the feet of the current administration. Their disregard for long-term economic stability and basic theory has earned them spots on my economic black list. However, I was wondering what the specifics of your disagreement concerning the Bush administration’s handling of economic policy revolve around. Links to evidence might be appreciated and formally strengthen your argument against the opposition and make it more persuasive for the layman. Also, in response to you comment about the charts, I realize that the downturn of the dollar happened soon after “King George’s… coronation,” but consider the lag between policy implementation and actual economic fluctuations as well as the introduction of a new strong currency. “It wasn’t long ago a Euro was worth about 90 cents.” Well, this is true, but it is also true that it wasn’t long ago that the Euro just did not exist. The consolidation of European currency was bound to have effects in the U.S. concerning the strength of the dollar. On top of that, the emergence of China as a growing economic power can be seen in the increase in the value of the yuan. This might be indicative of a decrease in the value of the dollar, not as a function of American incompetence (which it still is in part), but of Chinese growth. In addition, I was under the impression that a low strength dollar would increase the amount of exports from the United States and increase demand for the dollar in the international market, which in turn, would increase the strength of the dollar in general.
Comment
I think this post has an interesting point. The exploration of the Chinese problem with inflation reflects the United States own problem with its currency. I see how many of the Chinese solutions to inflation mirror actions taken by the Fed with an emphasis on monetary tightening and altering interest rates. I think if you compared how each of the economies has handled the problem, you could draw a convincing parallel. I realize that this is probably your specialty and by no means my own, and I respect your credentials. However, I want to know more about how one economy affects the other specifically. You explain that the Chinese strategy is to “shift the onus of global trade adjustment on the U.S.” What exactly is the process by which the Chinese do this? How do the differences in situations effect the implications of the policies taken by each respective government? How do the problems surrounding the Chinese economy directly affect the U.S. economy?
1 comment:
I think you start out well by showing the writers credentials and strengths. I also think that you picked two very relevant blogs to comment on. I do not know too much about economics (or anything really) but it looks like in your comments you offer some good insights and ask some really good questions. Some of the interesting questions to me were the ones at the end of your second comment, “What exactly is the process by which the Chinese do this? How do the differences in situations effect the implications of the policies taken by each respective government? How do the problems surrounding the Chinese economy directly affect the U.S. economy?” Also, your images seem very relevant to the topic as well. You quote their blogs well when making comments especially when you say “shift the onus of global trade adjustment on the U.S.” and use that quote to jump into your next question.
As some suggestions, I would say that you should put your blog address into the end of your comments so that the authors of the blogs your comment on can in turn read yours and, perhaps, keep a dialogue going with you. All in all though I would say these were two good comments on two very relevant blogs.
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