Geithner's Goal: Rebalanced World Economy

(out in the open treason, but who cares? . . . )

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

• OCTOBER 20, 2010

By DAMIAN PALETTA And DAVID WESSEL

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he would use weekend meetings of G-20 finance ministers to advance efforts to "rebalance" the world economy so it is less reliant on U.S. consumers, to move toward establishing "norms" on exchange-rate policy, and to persuade others the U.S. doesn't aim to devalue its way to prosperity.

David Wessel discusses his conversation this week with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and why the U.S. seems to be supporting a weaker dollar while officially pushing for a stronger U.S. currency. Plus, a big day for earnings and China cools off.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Geithner said the world sorely needs to agree on guidelines for exchange-rate policy. "Right now, there is no established sense of what's fair," he said.

He also said the U.S. is pressing the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations to adopt numerical gauges to judge whether individual trade surpluses or deficits are "sustainable," a way to measure progress towards the goal of more balanced global growth.

Mr. Geithner is to meet G-20 counterparts in South Korea this weekend amid widespread skepticism about whether the organization of economies as diverse as Argentina, France and the U.S. can defuse exchange-rate tensions. Brazil's finance minister has warned of "an international currency war." India's prime minister has said he is "worried about the global situation." The governor of the Bank of England has warned of protectionism unless "the need to act in the collective interest" is recognized.

Full story HERE