Telegraph/Ambrose Evans-Pritchard/02-01-17
As a matter of strict objective fact, Donald Trump’s trade guru is correct. Germany is the planet’s ultimate currency manipulator.
The implicit Deutsche Mark is indeed “grossly undervalued” The warped mechanism of monetary union allows Germany to lock in a permanent ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ trade advantage over Southern Europe, inflicting mass unemployment on the victim countries and blighting their futures.
Whatever you think of Peter Navarro’s trade philosophy, he is right that Germany’s chronic, huge, and illegal current account surplus – 8.8pc of GDP – saps global demand and seriously distorts the world economy.
PG View: Of course the Germans would argue that this is an unfortunate and unintended consequence of the singe currency . . .
