Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Where's the Dollar Going?

It's common knowledge that the dollar has been falling lately, relative to the Euro. What's the problem though? New consumer confidence data came out higher than economists had predicted, but consumer expectations fell at the same time. This article suggests that the de-valuing of the dollar might come from foreign banks. Banks all hold reserves, this we know,but most foreign banks hold a large reserve of the US dollar vs that of other currencies. This would suggest that the dollar is highly valued, sorta like gold was in the early days of the US. Now though, foreign banks are diversifing their reserves, causing a de-valuing of the dollar.

If this process continues, what should be an approach to appreciate the dollar? What can get the dollar back into the status of 'the currency' so to speak? Perhaps we need to take care of our own national debt, so that other foreign entities aren't so worried about the state of our economy. Better fiscal and monetary control here on the homeland might contribute to an appreciation of the dollar again.

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