This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.

About That "Strong Dollar" - Corporatism Speaks

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners,

There hasn’t been much of Treasury Secretary Jack Lew around the mainstream newsfeed in a long time, maybe even going back to his confirmation. However, he caused a lit bit of wrinkle by proclaiming his love for a “strong dollar” while placing it within the context of perhaps ECB criticism.

“The strong dollar, as all my predecessors have joined me in saying, is a good thing. It’s good for America. If it’s the result of a strong economy, it’s good for the U.S., it’s good for the world,” he said during an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “If there are policies that are unfair, if there are interventions that are designed to gain an unfair advantage, that’s a different story.”

So he’s all for the “strong dollar” as a matter of actual economic progress (without wages) but not in the manner of a currency war or some other perceived financial transgression. The Japanese have been openly abetting a lower yen, but nothing much is made of that (likely because it has had the opposite effect on Japanese exports and imports). Might the timing of something like this (which will spread throughout this earnings season and those to come) explain the sudden interest in the currency:

ABOOK Jan 2015 IBM Revenue

To think that multi-national companies are not complaining to government officials at this very moment is to be fully naïve. I would not doubt, given where the Treasury Secretary is, if he hasn’t been waylaid repeatedly about “doing something” about that “strong dollar.” Unfortunately, he cannot come right out and say that corporatism despises it so the administration, like those before, would prefer it sinking like a rock. Like monetarism, the fiscal side prefers not currency stability but their own, specific brand of instability.

They talk about a “strong dollar” as something that might actually exist, but in this financially-dominated economic reality it doesn’t relate. This is why it is so easy for policymakers to say that while openly courting the opposite – better for IBM, so they believe, not to have to take such negative currency “pressure.” Secretary Lew might continue to talk about it in the same manner as his predecessors, but the dollar is not what it used to be and neither are the implications of its “strength.”

 

- advertisements -

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:08 | 5704297 db51
db51's picture

I can tell you as a US Farmer, I'm getting bent over dry with this dollar strength.  Fuck you Janet Yellen and Central Banksters everywhere....and you Davos cocksuckers.   Burn in hell.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:17 | 5704321 stant
stant's picture

Most of the beef raised in my ky co has been going to Japan. Bet that's about played out soon

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:47 | 5704671 hangemhigh77
hangemhigh77's picture

well we know McDonalds isn't buying beef from you or anyone else. God knows what's in that shit they call "hamburgers".

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 02:52 | 5705187 PiratePiggy
PiratePiggy's picture

Shhh! The best news to me is that there is no ham in McDonald's hamburgers.   ;)

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:17 | 5704322 FrankieGoesToHo...
FrankieGoesToHollywood's picture

I assure you Madam Yellen and the FED have an well document track record of undermining the Dollar.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:21 | 5704343 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

And yet they have stood by and allowed it to strengthen with nary a word. Why?

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:42 | 5704414 FrankieGoesToHo...
FrankieGoesToHollywood's picture

100yrs -> 99% reduction in purchasing power.  Sure there is some volatility along the way.  But 99% reduction is an impressive devaluation antway you slice it.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:51 | 5704687 hangemhigh77
hangemhigh77's picture

probably because Michelle Oboner is going to take a European vacation soon and she'll have better buying power.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:17 | 5704323 knukles
knukles's picture

What's good for America, is good for America.
      - O'baloney Administration

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:33 | 5704382 ThroxxOfVron
ThroxxOfVron's picture

"I can tell you as a US Farmer, I'm getting bent over dry with this dollar strength.  Fuck you Janet Yellen and Central Banksters everywhere....and you Davos cocksuckers.   Burn in hell. "

Somehow the strengthening dollar you are complaining about hasn't reversed the relentless rise in beef prices at the market.

When the dollar weakens you push the price up and complain about how much feed and the like costs but when the dollar strengthens we never hear of your relief at falling feed and the like costs or see beef prices come back down.

So what gives?

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:36 | 5704395 surf0766
surf0766's picture

They fuck ya with the cell phones

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 01:48 | 5705119 DIGrif
DIGrif's picture

They fuck ya at the drive-thru

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 01:48 | 5705120 DIGrif
DIGrif's picture

They fuck ya at the drive-thru

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:47 | 5704431 db51
db51's picture

Prices we receive for grain have plummeted 60% in past 14 months.   FEED for beef, chicken, pork are ONE HALF what they were in 2013.   The reason beef prices are still skyrocketing is that YOU ARE GETTING BUTT FUCKED by the likes of Tyson and the Grocery Stores.   Have you looked at the price of a box of fucking Cheerios?   There's about $ .04 worth of ACTUAL GRAIN IN THE FUCKING BOX THAT COSTS $ 6.00!   That mother fucking athlete on the box gets more than the farmer who produced the grain.  

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:54 | 5704452 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

And you expected anything different from "Rahmbo"?

 

How else does all that Government get paid for?

 

Wait until you see the New and Improved Riot Police roll into the City of Chicago!

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:57 | 5704464 db51
db51's picture

Whereas you raise a crop EVERY YEAR, it takes longer to get a beef to market . . . so feeder calf prices are still high....but not high enough to justify outrageous prices at the store.

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 08:44 | 5705558 Refuse-Resist
Refuse-Resist's picture

That's interesting. I have laying hens. The price I pay for laying pellets AND scratch grains have doubled since 2008 but the price I can get for eggs is the same as it was then.

 

Methinks there is a tribe member or members with money printing machines and HFT machines somewhere behind the curtain.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:49 | 5704438 Sudden Debt
Sudden Debt's picture

There’s a hughe difference at what the farmers get for their meat and what the retailers ask for it.

Never blame a farmer for it before you see the financial risk they have to take and the work they have to put into their product.

Farmers should be the most respected proffesion in the world and all they get is the finger.

Being a farmer isn’t a 9 to 5 and 5 days per week job. 

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 13:16 | 5706779 Weisshaupt
Weisshaupt's picture

Don't worry, they will get more respect when the spoiled leftists and non-contributing zeros in the Cities are no longer getting thier bread or circuses. Of course,  you should awlays respect a group of armed men ready to deal with maurading thieves.

In the end it will predominately be the Farmers who are eating after the dollar collapse, and providing the government isn't sucessful in a bid "to Nationalize the farms for the good of the collective"  (You pay troops to do that in what? Plunder and Rape? )  

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:49 | 5704441 FrankieGoesToHo...
FrankieGoesToHollywood's picture

Mercantilists never give up.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:53 | 5704696 hangemhigh77
hangemhigh77's picture

I try not to eat. it saves money.

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 00:31 | 5704979 zorba THE GREEK
zorba THE GREEK's picture

Strong dollar? When I was in High School, I could buy a cheesesteak, fries, and a coke for a dollar

and have enough left over for a tip. Nowadays a dollar pays for the cheese on that steak, with

nothing left over. By the time this administration leaves office, we will be lucky if a dollar pays

for the toothpick.

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 08:49 | 5705568 Refuse-Resist
Refuse-Resist's picture

Amen.  When I graduated HS in 1985, I had friends in some trades:  drywall finishing/hanging, carpentry, and auto body. All of them were earning $15/hour (they were good).

 

Today, they all still make around $15/hour (maybe $17 in one case).

 

A quick trip over to the (always honest LOL) Federal Reserve Inflation Calculator shows that $15 in 1985 is about $34 today.

 

The only trades I know making that kind of money are union men. Non-union (ie non government enforced monopoly) tradesmen have to compete with half-assed illegals who have demolished wages for tradesmen.

 

The elephant in the room is the connection between government deficit spending and currency devaluation.  Most people don't understand it (by design) and the media with all their talk about the 'need to raise minimum wage' and 'the destruction of the middle class' refuse to connect the dots to constantly devaluing currency.

 

Strong dollar? My ass. Maybe it's the best floating turd in the toilet but wages show the strong dollar hypothesis to be complete bullshit.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:10 | 5704301 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Hmmmm, this "cleanest dirty shirt" smells like a Fukushima oysterbed, after the death-rays....

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:56 | 5704466 Fukushima Fricassee
Fukushima Fricassee's picture

I beg your pardon.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:12 | 5704302 Mayer Amschel R...
Mayer Amschel Rothschild's picture

HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! Holy f'n Zero Hedge kitsch

 

Wait until the defaults start in earnest.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:10 | 5704303 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

love it when one of the maggots uses the word "unfair"

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:12 | 5704308 Save_America1st
Save_America1st's picture

it's not dollar strength though...it's just massive weakness of the currencies that the dollar is weighted against that makes the dollar look like the best horse at the glue factory. 

In over 100 years since the Fed Reserve the dollar has lost 98% of its value. 

The dollar is not strong on any real terms.  It's a fucking zombie at best and won't last much longer.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:16 | 5704317 Racer
Racer's picture

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p02gyz6b/adam-curtis-bitter-lake

 

 

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:20 | 5704327 deeply indebted
deeply indebted's picture

If the dollar is so "strong," then why is it losing ground to gold?

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:33 | 5704388 knukles
knukles's picture

that's treasonous commentary, fellow citizen

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:50 | 5704689 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

WE ARE IN PARADISE!

 

Just print MOAAAAAAAAARRRR!

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:53 | 5704450 Seasmoke
Seasmoke's picture

Just imagine when Mr Yellen fires up QEforever.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:00 | 5704475 Fukushima Fricassee
Fukushima Fricassee's picture

and they are having an ever difficult time keeping the lid on.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:19 | 5704331 MarketAnarchist
MarketAnarchist's picture

The Dollar is already worth Zero.  People are just not aware of that yet.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:01 | 5704483 Fukushima Fricassee
Fukushima Fricassee's picture

Correction, post-apocalyptic fire starter has nominal value.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:05 | 5704488 MarketAnarchist
MarketAnarchist's picture

You are right, I rescind my former statement and and issue a sincere apology to survivalists everywhere.   ;)

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:22 | 5704336 TulsaTime
TulsaTime's picture

The mandatory strong dollar comments for the redneck press, because exceptional. While the 'agenda', if you can call it that with a straight face, is set by the fed-master's corporate agenda, as implemented by the bought bitches in congress. And for as utterly worthless as the long term prospects of the US economy might be, the world prays that they are better than their own local hell might be. It is still a race to the bottom by all concerned.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:21 | 5704342 knukles
knukles's picture

If you like your race to the bottom, you can keep your race to the bottom

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:26 | 5704353 Latitude25
Latitude25's picture

If corporations are complaining to Lew then they are idiots.  The FED sets monetary policy not the Treasury.  In turn the FED is controlled by western oligarchs.  This author is terribly confused or else an oligarch shill (likely)

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:43 | 5704419 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

the author assumes and alludes but in fact knows nothing of the sort

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:48 | 5704432 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

That would be THEIR Federal Reserve I might add.

 

Folks complaining about a "too strong dollar" might want to read up on "how the Fed can fail to weaken it."

 

Again...Big Black, 1930.  Oil hit ten cents a barrel!

 

"Beggar Thy Neighbor" would bankrupt 90% of the USA.

 

I don't think there is any way the Fed does NOT continue to normalize.  If New Jersey goes the way of Greece...guess what, you shook that guy's hand and called him your best buddy.

 

"He's over in India now issuing the coup de grace."

 

Next up...Asia Pacific free trade agreement!

Yee-haw!

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:28 | 5704360 will ling
will ling's picture

but,but,but,but... larry, king dollar.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:30 | 5704370 rogerrabbithole
rogerrabbithole's picture

This is yet another reason why the FED is going to have to at a best, keep rates at zero;  and at worst, do a QE4.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:32 | 5704383 knukles
knukles's picture

In the global competitive round robin devaluation currency war, the only response is QEwhateveroneitis plus NIRP

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:56 | 5704459 El Vaquero
El Vaquero's picture

Yeah, NIRP on the excess reserves might be a whammy with all of those digital FRNs sitting at the Fed.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:33 | 5704386 Irving Phelps
Irving Phelps's picture

It's about fucking time! Let the corporations feel their assholes burn a little and then they'll know what the 99% are feeling. Buy me a big fucking box of Kleenex so I can cry for these corporate fuckers!

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:36 | 5704402 flyonmywall
flyonmywall's picture

QE4-evah !

First the US did QE, then the Europeans are gonna QE for 18 months. Then, the US goes QE, ad nauseum.

Fuck you Yellen.

 

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 21:56 | 5704458 gatorengineer
gatorengineer's picture

Well if I were a paranoid, tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist, I would sure say that the US is ripe for a false flag operation go give an excuse for QE4......  Good thing Im not.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:55 | 5704706 disabledvet
disabledvet's picture

"Poroshenko line one.  Something about " we have forty left over and intend to use them.""

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:45 | 5704663 Herdee
Herdee's picture

If you're cooking up bacon in the frying pan and it's spitting at you,the bacon came off of a sow.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 22:56 | 5704710 hangemhigh77
hangemhigh77's picture

Thank you Jack for those words of wisdom. WTF, you could have 5th graders run this country and do a better job. Instead of speeches from the lying cocksucker Oboner you could fart into the microphone and have the same result. Hey Jack, nobody gives a FUCK what you're lying about now. Go play in traffic you motherfucker.

Sun, 01/25/2015 - 23:03 | 5704728 plane jain
plane jain's picture

Sigh...

Most multi national manufacturing has been moved out of the US and what is left, most of it is assembly of components made in other countries.

So making stuff in/from weaker currency markets to sell in a stronger currency market is a hardship?

Don't throw me into that briar patch...

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 04:27 | 5705272 FIAT CON
FIAT CON's picture

You guys make me laugh, thanks for the humor!,

Mon, 01/26/2015 - 08:00 | 5705448 Last of the Mid...
Last of the Middle Class's picture

My all time favorit is the "assembled in Ameika" sticker. I guess that means someone put a sticker on it as it came in off the boat before they shipped it to Wally world. One thing about mass merchandisers, bankers, and politicians they NEVER stop lying.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!