THEY MAKE TRINKETS FOR US AND WE MAKE SECURITIES FOR THEM:

Fed Chief’s Help Enlisted for Trip to Press China (STEVEN R. WEISMAN, 11/23/06, NY Times)

Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. has enlisted Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, to join an unusual delegation of cabinet members to China next month that will press for changes in Chinese economic policies long criticized by the administration and Congress, officials said Wednesday.

The trip in mid-December, to be led by Mr. Paulson, a former Goldman Sachs chairman with extensive experience in China, escalates the pressure on the Beijing leadership to crack down on piracy, open up its economy to outside investors and allow the value of the Chinese currency to fluctuate more freely, Treasury officials say. [...]

Mr. Bernanke, along with Mr. Paulson, shares responsibility for overseeing the United States economy and the major role that China now plays in it. He is expected to repeat what he and other central bankers have said in recent years: that the huge borrowing from China by the United States to finance its trade imbalance is not sustainable in the long run. Mr. Bernanke, who would not comment on his plans, has in the past urged the Chinese to be more flexible with the yuan and their economy.

Why not? It works for everyone else.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 23, 2006 10:21 AM