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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: yard_man who wrote (8557)	10/29/2002 3:45:24 PM
From: Jim Willie CB	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 89467

"The US dollar is to be admired, but not bought," advised Jim Grant at last Thursday's Grant's Interest Rate Observer Conference in New York. Grant refers sarcastically to the dollar as "America's greatest success story." That's because "each one costs less than a penny to produce and yet, is sold throughout the world for $1 apiece. What American export can match that?" Remarkably, the dollar's strength endures despite our yawning current account deficit - equivalent to about 5% of US GDP. Global demand for greenbacks persists no matter how many we print. The strong dollar, says Grant, "is the monetary equivalent of the appearance of the Anaheim Angels in the World Series. The Angels shouldn't be there - but there they are." Nevertheless, Grant believes investors should not underestimate the "capacity of sovereign governments to bring about the depreciation of the money they sponsor. Governments have few enough fields of competence...But a determined government can always find ways to depreciate the currency for which it holds the license to print." We consumers do not enjoy the luxury of printing money to satisfy our debts. We must earn it or inherit it. Unfortunately, jobs and old, rich relatives are both in short supply these days. And so, unpaid debts are soaring. (more by Eric Fry but snipped off)