Who's afraid of the dollar crisis?

William Pesek JR

The world sits and waits while the US and Asia play tug of war with the dollar

From Brasilia to Seoul, finance ministers are obsessing over the US dollar. Its decline could have great impact on the global financial system. Yet, rather than asking Treasury Secretary John Snow if the US still favours a strong dollar, officials should look to Asia. Regardless of where the Bush administration wants the dollar to go, Asians have co-opted the strong-dollar policy - and they aren't about to let go of it. The US, meanwhile, has stolen Asia's devalue-your-way-to-growth tactic. While Snow isn't saying so, the US seems quite happy with the dollar's 10% drop against the yen and ...