Yin-Wong Cheung, Eiji Fujii and I have just completed a paper entitled China’s Current Account and Exchange Rate” for a conference on China’s Growing Role in World Trade. This paper follows up on some of the issues I laid out in these posts: [1], [2], [3], and [4].
Author Archives: Menzie Chinn
Costing the Surge, and More…
Given the statements that the U.S. might be “surging the surge”, expect an incremental $40 billion to be expended over the next two years.
US Economic Growth: Retrospect and Prospect
Some interesting tidbits can be gleaned from the BEA’s recent release. First, despite the acceleration in growth in 2007Q2, the level of output in 2007Q2 is less than what we thought — as of 28 June — it was in 2007Q1. Second, q/q consumption growth now looks weaker than it did before. Third, while net exports provided a big boost to GDP growth, a large chunk of that effect is attributable to import compression, rather than export acceleration. How one views the durability of the net export effect depends in large part upon how one views the sources of import and export trends.
Recession Indicators: Where Do They Stand?
Will Dollar Depreciation Prevent A Recession?
As worries from ever expanding — but always containable — housing and mortgage market collapse mount (see this Reuters article), some analysts believe that the external accounts will save the day. From Bloomberg (July 23):
What is Chinese GDP really doing?
Amidst all the discussion about rampant Chinese GDP growth, the appropriate conduct of macro policy in restraining that growth, and the implications for the components of aggregate demand, a simple question leads to complicated answers.
“We have always thought that America got away with something.”
Well, maybe not anymore. And perhaps not even before.
The quote is from an article on how the weak dollar is raising the costs of traveling to Europe, as the USD/EUR rate flirts with 1.40. The longer quote, from yesterday’s NYT article entitled “As Dollar Crumples, Tourists Overseas Reel”
, is:
Iraq update
Expenditures continue to rise. More appropriations will likely be needed at this pace.
More on the Yuan and the Chinese Trade Balance
More speculation on the Yuan’s prospects. From Bloomberg:
Import prices surge…
…but mostly due to increasing oil prices.