US Commerce Secretary is suddenly the point man on dollar. He said earlier it’s weakness is a concern as it pushes up oil prices. He is going to China next week for talks with officials and will press them on piracy of IT goods. Boosting exports is important to reducing US unemployment, Locke says.
Critics of the US’s hands-off policy toward the dollar think Locke’s last point is the most pertinent: that the US is undertaking a policy of stealth-devaluation to boost the export sector, a time honored way of ameliorating the impacts of recession.
EUR/USD has eased a touch, now at 1.5035 after stalling ahead of a 1.5050 barrier. 1.5046 is the high.