What do people like about Ron Paul’s calls for a strong currency?
Saturday, April 19th, 2008This graph, which I saw over at Brad Delong’s website, shows the value of the dollar since the early 70s (when the dollar was first allowed to float). Its peak in the 1980s corresponds to a period of massive deindustrialization and high unemployment in the Rustbelt (America lost 2 million industrial jobs during the 1980s). It’s low point in 1995 corresponds to the beginning of the only period of the last 30 years during which real wages rose for most workers (1995-2000). This graph, more than most, suggests that a weak dollar might offer real benefits for most Americans, even if it (a weak dollar) causes quite a bit of pain on Wall Street.