Editor, Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner sides with those who worry, as you put it, that "Beijing has kept its currency artificially low to keep the prices of its goods cheap and generate trade surpluses. That has led to a global capital imbalance, as American consumers borrowed and spent and China became the United States' largest foreign creditor" ("Geithner Says China Manipulates Its Currency," Jan. 23). And he threatens to act "aggressively" to stop this alleged wrongdoing.
Overlook the reality that the only way Beijing can push the price of the yuan lower is through inflation or other policies that weaken the Chinese economy. Instead ask: why should the Obama administration be so upset by Beijing pumping easy credit into markets at a time when this same administration is deeply worried that credit has become too tight?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Don Boudreaux is the Chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University and a Business & Media Institute adviser.
