Long-term vs. short-term.

• Position: Off The News - Dollar devaluation - Brief Article

At the last G7 meeting in Dubai, global media attention concentrated on the significant weakening of the U.S. dollar against the yen after the issuance of a G7 communication calling for greater "flexibility" in foreign exchange matters. Yet Bush administration insiders say the greater flexibility language was intended as a lone-term goal, not a short-term effort necessarily to drive down the greenback to any particular level. Indeed, the real news of Dubai, they say, took place behind the scenes. On the Tuesday evening of the G7 gathering, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow invited the finance ministry and central bank deputies from both China and Japan to be included in a lengthy and unusual working dinner to discuss long-term goals for financial flexibility. To the surprise of everyone present, the level of cooperation proved to be extraordinarily high. "What was amazing was that the question was not 'if' [China is going to restructure and reform its...