Monthly Archive for February 2010

What the PBoC cannot do with its reserves

Feb 22nd, 2010

It is a real toss-up as to which generates more bizarre comment in the international press: Beijing’s long-feared dumping of US Treasuries, or the use and value of the PBoC’s central bank reserves.  The revelation last week that Chinese holdings of US Treasury obligations fell in December by $34.2 billion, to $755.4 billion, generated a [...]

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Posted in Balance sheets, Currency regime, PBoC, Reserves • 155 Comments »

Rising wages in China are a good thing

Feb 14th, 2010

I got back three days ago from my trip to the US and am still sludging through my jet-lag, but there are two quick takeaways from the trip I should mention.  First, my Washington meetings convinced me (no big surprise here) that, just as it is doing in Europe, the issue of trade is getting [...]

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Posted in Consumption and production, Labor and unemployment • 95 Comments »

Never short a country with $2 trillion in reserves?

Feb 2nd, 2010

I am traveling in DC, NY and Boston over the next few days, and between meetings and jet-lag it is hard for me to do much on my blog, but I did want to extend a short piece I wrote that was published yesterday in the South China Morning Post.  This is because it is [...]

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Posted in Balance of payments, Reserves • 182 Comments »