> On Wed, 19 Apr 2000, Enrique Diaz-Alvarez wrote:
>
> > On the other hand, the euro hit another low. Duisenberg's apparent goal
> > of turning Europe into an export-oriented, low-wage labor reservoir for
> > US stock traders and brand designers is well on track.
>
> Nicht so, Kamerad. Real wages continue to increase in the EU, while
> Euroland is running big current account surpluses as well as export
> surpluses. Basically, they're pursuing a high-wage, low-workweek strategy.
>From the point of view of the American consumer, a lower Euro makes European
wages lower. Not to mention the huge energy import bill, which gets bigger
(making incomes lower) as the Euro drops.
Current account surpluses are cool as long as the countries running the deficit are more or less good for the money. Do you seriously think the US will *ever* run the 1-2% of GDP surplus it needs just to service its foreign debt? What the hell are they going to export?
-- Enrique Diaz-Alvarez Office # (607) 255 5034 Electrical Engineering Home # (607) 272 4808 112 Phillips Hall Fax # (607) 255 4565 Cornell University mailto:enrique at ee.cornell.edu Ithaca, NY 14853 http://peta.ee.cornell.edu/~enrique