Wen turns the tables

Following on from last month’s article in EconoMAX that I wrote, China has insisted again today that the yuan is not undervalued - The Chinese premier turned the tables on the U.S and Europe today when it said that putting pressure on China to appreciate its currency was tantamount to protectionism!! Genius!

“What I don’t understand is depreciating one’s own currency, and attempting to pressure others to appreciate, for the purpose of increasing exports. In my view, that is protectionism,” Mr Wen said.

He also pointed out (quite rightly) that a revaluation of the yuan would harm the rest of the world economy too - about 50% of China’s exports involved taking imported components which are assembled at factories in China; and 60% were made by foreign companies or joint ventures with a foreign partner.  “If you restrict trade with China, you are hurting your own countries’ firms,”

He also resorted to some brinkmanship, referring again to the financial power China hold over the U.S given the significant mountains of American debt that it owns.

Although some see the effects of a renminbi revaluation as only having psychological effects on markets, given that between 2005-2009, the Chinese currency was allowed to revalue around 20% and it did not have any significant effect on the U.S-China trade deficit.

The U.S have until mid-April to formally accuse China of currency manipulation…

Economics Explained, by Evan [12 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: China’s Trade Engine is Spluttering [10 Feb 2012]
Martin Wolf on Global Shocks [10 Feb 2012]
Competitiveness [8 Feb 2012]
Trucks are the new way of measuring debt [1 Feb 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Growth and Development - Some Indicators [30 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Comparative Advantage [27 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Trade and Growth [27 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Inflation [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Carbon Emissions and Growth [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Per Capita Incomes [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Focus on China - Changing Economic Structure [26 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Can China Stay Competitive [25 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Focus on India - Economic Growth [24 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Population Shift in China [23 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Exporting to the Booming Chinese Economy [23 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Money, Debt and the New World Order [22 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Russia Joins the WTO [22 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Videos on Productivity [17 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Look Upwards to Find the next Downturn [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: France loses her AAA credit rating [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Frontier Markets - the New BRICS? [15 Jan 2012]
Beyond the Bike - The Importance of Remittances [15 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Time to Re-Boot the British Economy [14 Jan 2012]
China’s newest 5 year plan - and how it could change the world! [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Economics of Fiscal Deficit Reduction [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Competitive Advantage in Trade (Some Videos) [12 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: UK Bond Yields Reach Record Lows [11 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: UK Trade Patterns [11 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: Factors Driving Business Investment [10 Jan 2012]
Unit 1 Micro: Low Cost Airlines Beat the Recession [1 Jan 2012]
Unit 4 Macro: Exchange Rate Economics - Where next for the US Dollar? [31 Dec 2011]
European Economics: Resources on the CAP [28 Dec 2011]
2011 in Review - The US Economy [27 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Housing Market in 2011 [26 Dec 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Brazil Overtakes UK in Economic Size [26 Dec 2011]
The Eurozone Crisis Explained (again!) [22 Dec 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Celebrating (?) Ten Years of Euro Notes and Coins [2 Dec 2011]
Jim O’Neill - The Growth Map: Economic Opportunity in the BRICs and Beyond [22 Nov 2011]
Beyond the Bike - The Value of Money [19 Nov 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Should the EU introduce a Tobin Tax? [14 Nov 2011]
AS Macro: The State of British Business [13 Nov 2011]
Eurozone crisis - a selection of resources [12 Nov 2011]
Latest world trade data [6 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: China and India - Notes from Martin Wolf [6 Nov 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Should TNCs make full disclosure on factory wages? [30 Oct 2011]
Can the “invisible hand” solve Africa’s poverty? [13 Oct 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Can Exports Drive a Recovery? [13 Oct 2011]
Skidelsky in Madrid [12 Oct 2011]
The Return of Protectionism? [12 Oct 2011]
Why Is Macroeconomics Such A Mess? [11 Oct 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: USA edges closer to naming China as a “Currency Manipulator” [4 Oct 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Protectionism [3 Oct 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: When China Met Africa [1 Oct 2011]
Greek debt decision tree [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Greek Economy at Default’s Door [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Greece on the Brink of Default [25 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: IMF Flags up Risks of Double Dip [20 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Bangladesh and Comparative Advantage in Textiles [19 Sep 2011]
Study Note - Introduction to GDP [15 Sep 2011]
Study Note - The Circular Flow of Income [15 Sep 2011]
Unit 2 Macro: Economic Growth and Inequality [14 Sep 2011]
Mixing with the Nobel Economists [4 Sep 2011]
Toilet rolls, soap and climate change [1 Sep 2011]
Zondle Game: Currencies of the World [30 Aug 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Baltic Dry Index and Global Weakening [19 Aug 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: GDP per person since the credit crunch [19 Aug 2011]
Guess where China exports its chopsticks from [7 Aug 2011]
Capital labour substitution at FoxConn [2 Aug 2011]
hiphopnomics [31 Jul 2011]
A surprising example of trade between the USA, China, and Korea. [19 Jul 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Cotton Prices and the Retail Price of Clothing [13 Jul 2011]
Harry Potter shows that China isn’t quite a market economy yet! [13 Jul 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Economics of Volatile Corn Prices [12 Jul 2011]
Unit 3 Micro: Motorsport Valley and External Economies of Scale [12 Jul 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Dangers of High Inflation [11 Jul 2011]
Protection of British jobs? [1 Jul 2011]
China: The End of Cheap Labour [28 Jun 2011]
UK firms wake up to Brazilian opportunities [21 Jun 2011]
Evan Davis ‘Made in Britain’ - and a new trade data tool to play with [21 Jun 2011]
AQA ECON4 Context [20 Jun 2011]
Six Global Trends Shaping Business Strategy [15 Jun 2011]
Do you agree that the government should provide support to the UK car industry? [12 Jun 2011]
Chinese inward investment in the London property market [12 Jun 2011]
Development Econ: Wealth and Inequality in China [10 Jun 2011]
A2 Macro: Consumer Spending [30 May 2011]
Invisible Exports - Originating Journalist is remembered [27 May 2011]
Do tariffs actually reduce imports? [26 May 2011]
Macro Revision: Putting Things in Context [25 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Supply-Side Policies [25 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Deflation [24 May 2011]
PIIGS on the chopping block? [24 May 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Recession [23 May 2011]
AQA A2 Economics - European Context [23 May 2011]
Revision notes on unemployment [22 May 2011]
A2 Micro:  Monopsony Power in Markets [19 May 2011]
EU Economics: Comparing the UK with Europe [14 May 2011]
A2 Macro: Revealed Advantage [12 May 2011]
UK Economy Update: What Mervyn Said [11 May 2011]
AS Micro: What´s really behind the oil price rise? [10 May 2011]

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