On the decline of the dollar.

• Author: Rees, Matthew
• Position: Just the Facts: TIE's Executive News Service: THE DOLLAR ISSUE - Brief article

"Stephen Jen, currency economist at Morgan Stanley, suggests there might be more powerful forces driving the dollar down. A common fear is that Asia's central banks will diversify out of their large holdings of American debt. Mr. Jen argues, however, that the biggest dollar diversifiers have been pension, insurance, and mutual funds in America. These funds control assets worth $20.7 trillion, more than four times the size of the world's official currency reserves."

"American mutual funds have gradually increased their overseas allocation of equities since 2003 from 15 percent to 22.5 percent of assets, says Mr. Jen...