Sense on Cents

To what degree can international trading partners trust each other in the face of an ongoing decline in overall aggregate global demand for goods and services? 

More specifically, to what degree can the two major economic superpowers, those being the United States and China, trust each other in the midst of major economic challenges. While everybody can smile for the camera at trade conferences and international economic summits, what happens when those officials go home and implement policy? As with most things in life, we are wise to watch what is done to a far greater extent than what is said. Why do I raise this topic now?

Let’s look in the rear view mirror to mid-June at which point in time our wizards in Washington celebrated as the Chinese announced that they would agree to let their currency, the yuan, appreciate in value. (more…)