“Do as I say, not as I do – or say…”
That’s the word from US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner as he seems to forget that people follow him around with notepads and microphones as he begins the game of “Survivor – Global Currencies” although Tim seems to be following the very interesting strategy of trying to be voted out first so maybe there’s a method to his madness after all.
Like any good player, Timmy tries to form alliances and keep the other players off balance. On Wednesday, he told Brazil’s Finance Minister, Guido Mantega, that the U.S. won’t allow the Dollar to weaken. After telling Guido he had a hidden immunity idol that would protect the Dollar, Tim walked down the beach looking for others to form an alliance with and the cameras followed Mantega to one of those “private chat” areas, where he explained why he had formed an alliance with Timmy:
He said he doesn’t intend to allow a devaluation of the dollar. He assured me that the policy is not to weaken the dollar, but on the contrary, to strengthen it.
Brazil’s finance minister said he told Geithner that a firm stance by the U.S. against further weakening in the dollar would “create conditions to open a negotiation” with other countries seeking to reduce volatility in their currencies, and may help reduce pressure on China to strengthen the yuan. “Otherwise it’s hard, to weaken the dollar and to want a revaluation of the yuan,” Mantega said. “I then asked him about the Fed’s policy and he said that this policy’s impact is being overestimated,” Mantega said.
Apparently, Tim was able to swing enough cast members to pull a G7 Meeting this morning, apart from the G20. Who was conspicuously left out of the G7 (US, Japan, the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Canada)? Why China, of course. Poor China was sent off to get some water while Tim and the other ministers talked behind their backs. The United States and European Union accuse China of keeping its Yuan grossly undervalued to benefit exporters. Beijing counters that Washington’s loose monetary policy is swamping emerging markets with destabilising capital inflows, as investors chase higher yields than they can secure from the dollar.
In addition to trying to build an alliance before heading off to G20 tribal council, Tim further stirred the pot by sandbagging the G20 meeting with a letter to…
