Making Sense of the Dollar: Exposing Dangerous Myths about Trade and Foreign Exchange [Hardcover]

Has the greenback really lost its preeminent place in the world? Not according to currency expert Marc Chandler, who explains why so many arewronglypessimistic about both the dollar and the U.S. economy. ?

Making Sense of the Dollar explores the many factorstrade deficits, the dollars role in the world, globalization, capitalism, and morethat affect the dollar and the U.S. economy and lead to the inescapable conclusion that both are much stronger than many people suppose. ?

Marc Chandler has been covering the global capital markets for twenty years as a foreign exchange strategist for several Wall Street firms. He is one of the most widely respected and quoted currency experts today.

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction xiii

1 Myth 1: The Trade Deficit Reflects U.S. Competitiveness 1

2 Myth 2: The Current Account Deficit Drives the Dollar 21

3 Myth 3: You Cant Have Too Much Money 39

4 Myth 4: Labor Market Flexibility is the Key to U.S. Economic Prowess 57

5 Myth 5: There Is One Type of Capitalism73

6 Myth 6: The Dollars Privileged Place in the World is Lost 91

7 Myth 7: Globalization Destroyed American Industry 111

8 Myth 8: U.S. Capitalist Development Prevents Socialism 133

9 Myth 9: The Weak U.S. Dollar Boosts Exports and Drives Stock Markets 155

10 Myth 10: The Foreign Exchange Market is Strange and Speculative 173

11 Summary and Some Thoughts on the Way Forward 191

Bibliography 203

Index 206

MARC CHANDLER has been involved in global capital markets for twenty years. He is Chief Foreign Exchange Strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman anlR