CHINA/ECONOMY/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The trade war between Washington and Beijing took an unexpected turn this week as China let its currency drop sharply and the United States responded by officially designating the country a currency manipulator. The confrontation underscored the Trump administration’s focus on weakness in foreign currencies — and the corresponding strength of the dollar — as a drag on the American economy. Now, investors are gaming out the prospect that the United States could actively intervene in the financial markets, in a significant break from a decades-long commitment to free-floating currencies…But while the president might want a weaker dollar, engineering one is complicated. Here’s the context you need to understand the United States’ changing approach to the dollar. Why would the U.S. benefit from a weaker dollar? A weaker currency makes a country’s exports cheaper for buyers overseas, giving a country a competitive advantage.”
–Matt Phillips, “A Weak Dollar Could Help the U.S. Getting One Isn’t So Easy.,” The New York Times online, August 6, 2019