You are here

It''s not an energy crisis but a money crisis

Section: Daily Dispatches

US Treasury's Snow Says He Backs Strong Dollar

By Glenn Somerville
Reuters
Friday, May 19, 2006

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?
type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-05-
19T135738Z_01_N19283785_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-SNOW-DOLLAR-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK -- U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow insisted on Friday
there has been no weakening in the United States' commitment to a
strong dollar and vowed to hold China's "feet to the fire" over
promises to make its currency more flexible.

On CNBC Television, Snow was asked whether the Bush administration
has become less forceful in advocating a strong dollar and so
effectively has endorsed a decline in its value.

"I don't think so. It's the policy. It's in our interests," Snow
said. "But we also say as well that currency values should be set in
open, competitive currency markets, to be in line with underlying
supply and demand and market forces," he added.

Following the Group of Seven finance ministers' meeting in
Washington on April 21, many analysts felt the ministers were
willing to see the dollar's value decline as part of an effort to
reduce global imbalances, including the U.S. trade deficit.

Snow insisted that Washington still backed a strong dollar.

"It's a policy we've made clear, that Japan signed on to, the
statement coming out of the G7 (finance) ministers' meetings, which
said open, competitive markets are the best way to set currency
values," Snow said, adding: "I say our policy is the strong dollar."

He also said that neither the United States nor other key trade
partners should follow "beggar-thy-neighbor" currency policies that
seek to gain an advantage by pricing exports unfairly cheaply.

Snow was asked why the Treasury Department declined to name China a
currency manipulator in a report to Congress last week, given the
huge deficits the United States is incurring on its trade with China
and congressional anger over the issue.

Snow said the United States was disappointed that China was not
letting market forces play a larger role in setting the value of its
currency, the yuan, but said threats wouldn't help persuade it to
move more quickly.

"We've got to hold their feet to the fire," he said, to make sure
that China follows through on pledges to introduce increased
currency flexibility.

"We are very unhappy that the Chinese aren't moving faster. They
need to move," Snow said. "It's in their interests. It's in the
interest of the global economy."

But he added: "They respond better in the absence of threats than in
the presence of threats," Snow said. "The movement in the currency
is more likely given what we did than if we'd done the other."

Snow, who was in New York to address the Bond Market Association
before heading for Egypt to meet regional finance ministers, turned
aside questions about reports that he might leave his Treasury post
in coming months.

"I can't comment on rumors and speculation," he said, adding that he
didn't think stories about his possible departure affected his
ability to do his job.

----------------------------------------------------

To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:

gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:

gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

Caution: America Online prohibits delivery of GATA
dispatches to AOL e-mailboxes.

----------------------------------------------------

RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS

Free sites:

http://www.jsmineset.com

http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com

http://www.mineweb.com/

http://www.gold-eagle.com/

http://www.kitco.com/

http://www.usagold.com/

http://www.usagold.com/amk/usagoldmarketupdate.html

http://www.GoldSeek.com/

http://www.GoldReview.com/

http://www.capitalupdates.com/

http://www.DailyReckoning.com

http://www.goldenbar.com/

http://www.silver-investor.com

http://www.thebulliondesk.com/

http://www.sharelynx.com/

http://www.mininglife.com/

http://www.financialsense.com

http://www.goldensextant.com

http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.depression2.tv

http://www.moneyfiles.org/

http://www.howestreet.com

http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html

http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html

http://www.goldcolony.com

http://www.miningstocks.com

http://www.mineralstox.com

http://www.freemarketnews.com

http://www.321gold.com

http://www.SilverSeek.com

http://www.investmentrarities.com

http://www.kereport.com
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)

http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)

http://www.resourceinvestor.com

http://www.miningmx.com

http://www.prudentbear.com

http://www.dollarcollapse.com

http://www.kitcocasey.com

http://000999.forumactif.com/

http://www.golddrivers.com/

http://www.goldpennystocks.com/

http://www.oroyfinanzas.com/

Subscription sites:

http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/

http://www.goldinsider.com/

http://www.hsletter.com

http://www.interventionalanalysis.com

http://www.investmentindicators.com/

Eagle Ranch discussion site:

http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm

Ted Butler silver commentary archive:

http://www.investmentrarities.com/

----------------------------------------------------

COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS

Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com

Centennial Precious Metals
Box 460009
Denver, Colorado 80246-0009
1-800-869-5115
http://www.USAGOLD.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
cpm@usagold.com

Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
http://www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net

El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net

Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
+353 1 2315260/6
Fax: +353 1 2315202
http://www.goldinvestments.org
info@gold.ie

Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com

Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com

Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
http://www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com

Lone Star Silver Exchange
1702 S. Highway 121
Suite 607-111
Lewisville, Texas 75067
214-632-8869
http://www.discountsilverclub.com

MRCS Canada
12303-118 Ave. NW
Edmonton, Alberta T5L 2K2
Canada
http://www.mrcscanada.com
Michael Riedel, Proprietor
1-877-TRY-MRCS
1-877-879-6727
mrcscanada@shaw.ca

Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel

Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com

Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
http://www.buysilvernow.com

Richard Nachbar Rare Coins
5820 Main St., Suite 601
Williamsville, N.Y. 14221-8232
877-622-4227
http://www.CoinExpert.com
nachbar@coinexpert.com

Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com

The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
http://www.the-moneychanger.com
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066

----------------------------------------------------

HOW TO HELP GATA

If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.

By check:

Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA

By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:

http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html

By GoldMoney:

http://www.GoldMoney.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L

Donors of $200 or more will receive copies
of "The ABCs of Gold Investing" by Michael
Kosares, proprietor of Centennial Precious
Metals in Denver, Colorado, and "The Coming
Collapse of the Dollar" by James Turk and
John Rubino.

GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.