I wonder whether Matt Drudge understands that keeping the dollar strong undermines American industry? Or whether he cares?

If it DOES become an item of populist outrage, for how many people do you think the outrage will focus on the fact that the (longer-run) decline began in early 2002, and how many do you think will focus solely on the decline since the beginning of 2009? Yeah, that's what I thought, too.

Even the Chinese, who have spoken like they want an alternative to the dollar as a reserve currency, are in point of fact not doing much to alter the status quo. Why? To paraphrase Winston Churchill, the dollar is a lousy, rotten reserve currency - until one contemplates the alternatives.

We've got the Chinese nice and trapped on that one. The instant they make a major sell-off of their dollar reserves, the dollar will depreciate heavily in value, causing the rest of their reserves to plummet in value and crushing Chinese exports.

For what it's worth, the Bank of Canada (and we all know they're out to destroy America) is trying to lower the value of the Loonie since if it gets too high it hurts exports.

For what it's worth, the Bank of Canada (and we all know they're out to destroy America) is trying to lower the value of the Loonie since if it gets too high it hurts exports.

Umm...the unemployment rate has risen by nearly 40% under Obama. We've lost 4 million jobs in less than a year. Take a peak outside poli sci academia, and you'll see there's really no need to manufacture fake outrage.

It didn't work for the Democrats under Bush, don't know why it should work for the Republicans under Obama.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_11/b3924034_mz007.htm

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/05/weak_dollar.html

Watch the price of oil - recently breaking out of its trading range, partly on the basis of the dollar's weakness. CPI inflation doesn't matter much if we get high spot inflation. The Fed will either have to tighten, squelching incipient economic growth, or watch real interest rates and inflation rise, achieving the same effect. Certain alternatives involving a fast rebounding dollar could have even worse effects, particularly if and when the equity bubble pops.

Few seem to have grasped that current global banking policy, including Bernanke-Geithner-Obama policy, is for a decade of stagflation if everything goes right.

I know full well that no one in this world can really predict what an election will be about until at earliest a month before the actual election, but I can't see the dollar deciding it. At the moment people aren't interested in how much the dollar is worth as much as how much they want to have dollars. If the economy recovers enough in 2010 before the election and the Taliban doesn't stage a repeat of the Tet offensive we can expect a Democratic victory.

Once again this author really does not get it. As an Obama follower he thinks that whenever someone points out that the economy is in bad shape it is a insult to Obama. This is NOT a partisan issue!!! The dollar fell substantially under the Bush administration and continues to fall under Obama. It was a bad thing when Bush was in office and is equally as bad now! While both presidents are partially responsible for the plight of the dollar the biggest culprit is the federal reserve. Greenspan and Bernanke both were/are printing too many dollars. A falling dollar and inflation is not in our best interest. While our exporters will benefit the rest of the country will see a decline in their standard of living. Just look historically at the countries with high inflation vs low inflation. Almost always the countries with low inflation have higher growth and lower unemployment than the high inflation countries.

I think that understanding the reasons why the dollar is in decline and perhaps structural decline are more important to this debate. The economic world seems to be witnessing a US government which is showing no thread of financial discipline, by agreeing to fund spectacularly large new commitments at a time when many of our previous commitments remain unfunded.

This has been going on for some time and it continued under GW Bush. But the pace of creating new unfunded obligations appears to be unprecedented here.

Let me get this straight. *Daniel Drezner* - of all people - is complaining about someone getting hysterical about the fall of the dollar?

Perhaps Drezner should look in the mirror! Or does he perhaps forget about this post: http://www.danieldrezner.com/archives/001723.html

There are others like it, too.

So, let me see if I can summarize what's going on here. During the Bush Administration when the dollar began falling, Drezner got hysterical about it. Some commenters tried to talk him out of his hysteria - not very successfully, I might add.

But now, during the Obama Administration, some other people are likewise getting a little hysterical about a fall in the dollar, and Drezner has the chutzpah to call them out on it? Really???

Perhaps Drezner should instead just abjectly apologize for his own (unwarranted) previous hysteria at the fall of the dollar.

Three guys jump out of a plane. Have you heard this one? They link arms like acrobatic parachutists as they fall toward the earth. They do not however have parachutes.

One of them is the dollar, one of them is the yen, and one of them is the yuan. As they plummet earthward, each looks into they eyes of the other two and thinks to himself, "Say, we all seem to be about level."