Now Here's Something Government DOES Do Well!
23 December 2006
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
The hand-wringing over the fact that Toyota's annual production of cars will soon surpass that of G.M. is accompanied by claims that the yen is undervalued ("Toyota is Poised to Supplant G.M. as World's Largest Carmaker," Dec. 23). While I don't question the sincerity of the disinterested researchers - such as Detroit auto executives and Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) - who advance this hypothesis, I point out that any intervention by the Bank of Japan to artificially lower the value of the yen against the dollar also artificially raises the purchasing power of dollars in Americans' pockets. In short, such intervention makes Americans richer - a consequence that Congress has long fought against with impressive ardor and skill.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
The Editor, New York Times
229 West 43rd St.
New York, NY 10036
To the Editor:
The hand-wringing over the fact that Toyota's annual production of cars will soon surpass that of G.M. is accompanied by claims that the yen is undervalued ("Toyota is Poised to Supplant G.M. as World's Largest Carmaker," Dec. 23). While I don't question the sincerity of the disinterested researchers - such as Detroit auto executives and Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) - who advance this hypothesis, I point out that any intervention by the Bank of Japan to artificially lower the value of the yen against the dollar also artificially raises the purchasing power of dollars in Americans' pockets. In short, such intervention makes Americans richer - a consequence that Congress has long fought against with impressive ardor and skill.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Monday September 10, 2007 at 9:24am