Home>News Center>China
       
 

Mundell: China should keep currency peg
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-06-03 20:14

Nobel economics laureate Robert Mundell, known as "father of the euro" for his contributions to foreign exchange theory, said Friday there is no reason for China to change its much-criticized currency peg to the US dollar.

"My position, since 1994, has been strongly against changing the exchange rate," Mundell said in a lecture organized by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. "China has had a dollar anchor for over 10 years, and it's a winning policy."

China strictly controls its currency's exchange rate with a de-facto peg of 8.28 yuan to the US dollar. Washington has strongly argued that the rate is too low and has fueled the ballooning US trade deficit _ an argument also taken up by US businesses hurt by Chinese competition, such as textile makers.

Mundell argued, however, that any change by China _ whether a one-off revaluation of the exchange rate or a shift to a floating rate _ wouldn't be in China's own interests, and would in fact have little effect on the root causes of America's dissatisfaction.

"Behind this there is a real phenomenon: China's competitive shock," he said, comparing the recent growth of low-cost manufacturing in China to Japan's economic rise in the 1950s and 1960s. But Mundell said this shock "isn't a monetary issue and can't be addressed by monetary measures," such as the exchange rate.

He echoed an argument made by a number of other prominent economists, such as US Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and fellow Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz. They contend that while a revaluation would make Chinese goods more expensive in the US, American consumers would just buy imports from other low-cost countries instead. In that case the US trade deficit with China might fall, but the size of its overall trade deficit would not.

Mundell also argued that a change in the currency regime would bring "damaging" volatility to China, and it could harm growth and employment in the domestic economy. Chinese officials, while saying their long-term goal is a more flexible exchange rate mechanism, have consistently resisted pressure for a quick move by arguing that it would endanger the country's immature still-fragile financial system.

Mundell advised China to hold its dollar peg steady and continue its gradual reforms of the economy to bring in market forces and foreign investment.

"If China perseveres with its (currency) policy, while continuing to open up the economy and meet its WTO commitments, it will gain acceptance of it," he said.



 
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

China opposes UNSC enlargement with Japan

 

   
 

Over 70 dead as floods destroy many homes

 

   
 

China does not want large forex rises

 

   
 

IOC: All's well on Olympic construction

 

   
 

Small carmakers rise in large China market

 

   
 

Koizumi hints at shrine visit plan, again

 

   
  China does not want large forex rises
   
  Over 70 dead as floods destroy many homes
   
  China opposes UNSC enlargement with Japan
   
  IOC: All's well on Olympic construction
   
  Graduates receive help in finding jobs
   
  Beijing's firecracker ban may go up in smoke
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  It is time to prepare for Beijing - 2008  
Advertisement