After years of exhorting China to increase the value of its yuan, the currency is finally rising. Why that's so is the result of the Fed's quantitative easing program. Here's how Bernanke managed to succeed where political wrangling fell short.
China's economy is booming, and Western nations are increasing their demands that its currency be allowed to rise to its natural value. Who knows if that will happen, but if you want to bet that it will, the Bank of China just made it easier: Now, Americans can open renminbi-denominated accounts.
China's decision to hike interest rates to contain inflation is a missed opportunity to move the country toward a more domestic-oriented economy. A higher yuan would slow exports, but it would be a bigger overall benefit to China's economy.
Leaders of 20 major economies on Friday refused to back a U.S. push to make China boost its currency's value. Despite some face-saving rhetoric, that will keep alive fears of a global trade and currency war amid criticism that cheap Chinese exports are costing American jobs.
China surprised international markets Tuesday by raising key interest rates for the first time in three years. The move sparked a worldwide sell-off on worries that it could cause the Chinese economy to slow down.
Investors take note: Despite the calls for order, national policymakers are dealing with an increasingly haphazard scenario loaded with counterproductive results and unintended consequences. The result could be a slide toward protectionism.
A bill, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday, would let U.S. companies petition for duties on Chinese imports -- a move that would hurt the global economy if it became law, the Chinese government said.
The Chinese yuan hit a post-revaluation high against the dollar Monday after the People's Bank of China set the yuan's reference rate for trading at its highest level since the central bank began publishing the daily fix in 1994. The yuan can rise or fall 0.5% each day from the reference point.