From the Reporters
Carole Matthews

Currency Talks with China

 

United States Treasury Secretary John Snow arrived in Beijing yesterday in an attempt to encourage China to revalue the yuan. The Chinese haven't budged on the yuan's value since 1995, when it was pegged at 8.3 to the dollar, and, as noted in the article, "Democrats and Republicans alike claim that with its refusal to let the yuan rise, China is riding an export boom that is sucking jobs from the US and distorting global currency markets."

But if China is ready to become more competitive in its currency valuation, what does that mean to the American consumer? Most likely, it would raise the prices of many Chinese-made goods, and as Fresh Inc. user JHB notes in a recent weblog comment, "How many of us would own a $1,000 DVD player?, or a $60 toaster?"