November 08, 2010
This should have been the headline of an article in which Germany’s finance minister both complained about the United States credit-led model of growth and the decline in the value of the dollar. A falling dollar is the mechanism through which the United States would get off its credit-led model of growth. It will make imports more expensive in the United States, leading us to buy fewer imports. It will also make our exports cheaper, leading us to increase exports. This will reduce the U.S. trade deficit and therefore its foreign borrowing.
Complaining about both the credit-led model of growth and then complaining about the decline in the currency is like complaining that the room is too hot and then complaining when someone turns on the air conditioner. Germany’s finance minister apparently does not understand economics, which should have been the main point of this article.
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