Important News - Oct. 21
By Daniel at 21 October, 2009, 12:30 am
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1) Niall Ferguson: The Dollar Is Finished And The Chinese Are Dumping It
Perhaps most importantly, China’s massive stimulus program is helping to generate internal consumption in the People’s Republic, meaning local manufacturers are less dependent on exports. Because of the “rapid growth” of Chinese domestic consumption, Ferguson predicts China’s international trade surplus could be gone by next year.
2) More Shots in the Trade War (Greg Mankiw )
I have been following the rising tension between the United States and China on international trade. Here is the latest:
China Set to Impose New Tariffs on Nylon
China’s Ministry of Commerce has made a preliminary ruling to impose tariffs of as much as 36% on certain nylon imports from the U.S., saying the imports have damaged the domestic industry….The move is the latest in a series of Sino-U.S. trade disputes after the Obama administration said in September that it would impose duties of between 25% and 35% on imports of tires from China for the next three years. China followed that decision with probes of potential antidumping measures on U.S. auto parts and chicken.
3) Countrywide Mortgages Lead California in Defaults
Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) — Default notices on California home mortgages rose almost 19 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier as job losses and falling property prices deepened the state’s housing recession, MDA DataQuick said.
4) California Accuses State Street Of “Massive Fraud”
“California’s Attorney General has sued State Street for $200 million.
The case claims that State Street illegally over-charged Calpers and Calsters for executing foreign currency trades.”
“The weakness of the U.S. dollar has many policymakers in Asia’s reserve-rich countries studying ways to reduce the portion of dollar assets in their funds, central bank officials and analysts said yesterday. They said Korea, whose foreign exchange reserves stand at $254.2 billion, was no exception.
They said the Bank of Korea is mulling reducing the proportion of dollar-denominated assets in reserves, which currently stands at 64.5 percent of the total fund.”
- 6) State faces revenue shortfall, fiscal woes
“As bad as the weaker-than-expected tax revenues look, Stinson and other state officials explained this may be the least of Minnesota’s problems.
Stinson said Minnesota will likely begin the 2012-13 biennium with a budget deficit of at least $4.4 billion; however, House Chief Fiscal Analyst Bill Marx said the true number could be as high as $7.2 billion”
- 7) %&#@
“The International Monetary Fund is considering creating a new programme to discourage member countries from building up currency reserves, John Lipsky, the IMF’s first deputy managing director, said on Monday.
“We are exploring the possibility of improving our existing facilities or adding other insurance-like facilities that would give our members greater confidence that they don’t need to self insure by building up reserves,” Lipsky told reporters at a conference in Mexico.”
……..Is the IMF adding this to their “programme” of collecting shoes for the poor?
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