Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Chinese Growth Driving World Economy

It's just been ticking me off recently listening to the finance ministers in all these wealthy nations with lackluster economic growth complain about China's fixed currency rate. The global economic boom (albeit less impressive at home in the United States) is driven in large part by the explosive growth in East Asia. Nearly every transnational consumer goods firm runs manufacturing plants on the Chinese mainland. The outstanding profits from these firms' exports are the primary reason that the economic outlook around the globe are as rosy as they appear at present. And those profits are due in part to the fixed exchange rate. The stockholders of these firms primarily reside in the wealthy nations. Yes, the same wealth nations whose finance ministers keep complaining about the exchange rates. My advice to the finance ministers of ASEAN: Focus on your own country for once. The Chinese have shown far more competence in managing their economies than most of their detractors.