This just in: Currency war has started

[Valin]

Power Line: Scott Johnson

2/5/13

 

Central banks all over the world are flooding the zone with money hot off the press, all in the name of stimulus. Even a country such as Switzerland, with a traditionally stable currency and low inflation rates, finds itself caught in the dance. How can it afford to let the Swiss franc appreciate against the currencies of its commercial rivals? The powers-that-be in Switzerland have concluded that they can’t, and they may have a better excuse than Ben Bernanke et al., whose commitment to keep doing what isn’t working continues unabated.

 

Today’s Wall Street Journal carries a short article by Francesco Guerrera on the side effect of the running of the printing presses: *“Currency war has started.” I actually think Guerrera is arriving on the scene a little late, but his article makes up in drama whatever it might lack in timeliness:

 

(Snip)

 

Now that’s something you don’t read in the Journal every day. Guerrera, however, is guardedly optimistic: “[C]ommon sense could prevail, putting an end to the dangerous game of beggar (and blame) thy neighbor.” Has counting on common sense to break out ever been a good bet? I’m thinking it might be time to pull down my copy of When Money Dies from the bookshelf.

 

*Behind Paywall