Steve Forbes has been saying this for years. The Bush administration’s failure to aggressively support the dollar has created serious economic problems.
The dumbest, most destructive economic policy of the Bush Administration has been its weak-dollar position–letting the dollar slide in value against the euro, the yen, the pound and gold. The repeatedly disproved theory in operation here is that cheapening your currency will improve your trade balance and that an improved trade balance makes your economy stronger and wealthier. Put aside the meaninglessness of the trade balance as a measure of economic health or sickness–the U.S., after all, has had a trade deficit with the rest of the world for 350 years out of the last 400. A weak-currency policy has disastrous economic and political consequences–most immediately, our tumultuous equity markets.
The entire article is worth reading. He even acknowledges that Clinton deserves credit for his strong-dollar policy.
