To: SteveinTX who wrote (39648 ) 3/27/2009 3:05:20 PM From: Bucky Katt 1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 48461 More from Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, on how he wants the world to change. Zhou makes a telling point when he insists that "the centralized management of part of the global reserve by a trustworthy international institution will be more effective in deterring speculation and stabilizing financial markets." In other words, Zhou is saying that the recent vicious meltdown might have been avoided if the world's financial system was not tied solely to the American dollar, the currency at the focal point of the global economy. "For a country like China that prizes its sovereignty and to date hasn't even been willing to report the currency composition of its reserves to the IMF [something most other countries do], this would be a big step," says Brad Setser, a fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Treasury official in the Clinton administration. In a second address Thursday, Zhou took an even tougher whack at some American institutions and financial concepts. He blasted the way "the global financial system relies heavily on the external credit ratings for investment decisions and risk management." Having three U.S. ratings agencies dominate the world results in "a massive herd behavior at the institutional level. Moreover, the rating models for mortgage-related structured products are fundamentally flawed." All true. The massive write-downs across the globe were the result of these flaws in the American way of doing things. Then, Zhou goes on to blame the American fair-value accounting system and especially the mark-to-market model for the intense market fluctuations and disorderly trading. Take that America. China described the "negative feedback loop" as the most toxic American export ever. Zhou also crowed about how China's "macroeconomic measures," including a massive stimulus program, have produced "some leading indicators pointing to recovery of economic growth, indicating that rapid decline in growth had been curbed." Then, Zhou really stuck it to Obama-Geithner-Bernanke, as well as to Europe and Japan. "Facts speak volumes and demonstrate that compared with other major economies, the Chinese government has taken prompt, decisive and effective policy measures, demonstrating its superior system advantage when it comes to making vital policy decisions." Talk about gauntlet dropping. (Bucky says, ouch man!)forbes.com