Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Rub

clipped from www.zerohedge.com

And herein lies the rub:

The financial crisis delivered a clear verdict, in our view, on the limits to the Asian growth model. It no longer makes sense to pursue double-digit growth by lending cheaply to the US consumer.


Yet change would require less reserve accumulation or – put another way – allowing the currency to appreciate against the US dollar, to which it is now effectively pegged. China needs to manage this “exit” carefully. Moving too fast risks a dollar crisis

It is merely this moment that Bernanke and the administration are doing all they can to prolong as much as possible. Alas it may be too late, as China seems to have finally realized that in the global prisoner's dilemma game, it has taken the constant US defections for far too long enough. And with the benefits of perpetuating the charade at this point outweighed by the detriments, 2010 could just be the year when China decides it has had enough.