Currency Manipulation: US Hypocrisy Apparent in Warning to Japan

The United States warned Japan today that it would henceforth be monitoring Japan’s economic policy to ensure it does not constitute an intentional devaluation of the yen to obtain economic advantage.

In its semi-annual report that identifies nation trade partners engaged in the same manipulative currency devaluation practices as itself, the United States Treasury made a point of hypocritically implying that both China and Japan were engaging in practices with respect to their currencies that the United States regards as its exclusive domain.

The United States has been engaged in a systematic and incremental devaluation of its currency since 2008 when it began asset purchase programs under the guise of economic stimulus.

This is not just a position of this publication, but is shared by other nations who are not excessively beholden to the US for financial support.

Since the 2008 crash, Brazil has accused the US of currency manipulation by using quantitative easing to devalue the dollar.

Even CNN publicly accused the US of currency manipulation back in 2011, when correspondent Paul La Monica, in a piece entitled “Currency Manipulation? US Must Look in the Mirror” wrote:

“NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — A newsflash to the legislators in Washington who suddenly want to act tough against China for currency manipulation: Have you looked in the mirror lately?

How can anyone with a straight face declare that China needs to be punished for keeping the yuan artificially low when the United States is also aggressively trying to devalue the dollar with its monetary and fiscal policies?

The righteous indignation and holier-than-thou attitude is comical at best. The Federal Reserve, through two rounds of quantitative easing and now Operation Twist, has helped push the dollar lower.

Simply put, buying up U.S. Treasuries as if they were Missoni apparel at Target leads to lower interest rates and a weaker currency.”

The Wall Street Journal also published a piece in October 2012 titled “Ben Bernanke: Currency Manipulator”.

So there is no denying the the U.S. is possibly the worst offender when it comes to manipulating its currency downward to obtain global advantage.

For now, the US says it will monitor both Japan and China, and stops short of outright labelling of the two countries as currency manipulators.

Rightfully so. The whole world knows it would be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. And the U.S., contrary to what they would have us believe, hates comptetition.

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