The next steps in ASEAN+3 monetary integration

The constant chant from Washington over the past few years has been one of falling just short of labeling China "a currency manipulator" and proclaiming unilaterally that the Yuan is being artificially maintained at a lower level than it should be. However, as Bloomberg Briefs' Fielding Chen notes, based on a trade-weighted basket, China's currency is actually 20% over-valued.

Today in Rangoon, Myanmar, U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker concluded a week-long commercial diplomacy trip, after making stops in Hanoi, Vietnam; Manila, Philippines; and Naypyitaw, Myanmar. All three countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a region that is the United States’ fourth-largest export market and the fifth-largest overall trading partner. The ten dynamic countries that comprise ASEAN have an economy valued at $2.4 trillion. The economies of Vietnam, the Philippines, and Burma present enormous opportunity for U.S. businesses, which is why a delegation of U.S. CEOs and the U.S.-ASEAN Business Council joined Secretary Pritzker to further commercial ties as well as strengthen our bilateral relationship in the region. The Obama Administration has made a deliberate decision to deepen U.S. engagement with Asia, and throughout the week, Secretary Pritzker elaborated on the economic dimension of this commitment, which includes deepening trade and investment ties with existing partners, building the soft and hard infrastructure necessary to support the growth of emerging partners, and taking the steps necessary to level the playing field for commerce across the region.

Pradumna B. Rana, Chia Wai Mun, 1 April 2013The global economy was once dominated by north-north relations, with some limited concern for north-south relations. This column argues that south-south economic relations now matter and explains what new ‘look east’ policies that are being implemented in south Asia mean for the global south and the global economy.Full Article: The need for a second round of ‘look east’ policies in south Asia

This weekend the People's Bank of China announced that the yuan-dollar daily trading band would be widened to 2% on either side, from 1%. China last widened the band to 1%, from 0.5% in April 2012, and to 0.5% from 0.3% in May 2007.

Maybe. Governor Romney has stated that he will declare China a currency manipulator on Day One, should he be elected President. In contrast to his other policy positions – from tax rates on the upper incomes, defense spending, coverage of pre-existing health conditions, the Blunt Amendment, Afghanistan timetable, first strike on Iran – he has exhibited remarkable (and pretty unique) constancy in his desire to call China a currency manipulator.

Pradumna B. Rana, 22 September 2012The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s shows what can happen when economists misdiagnose a crisis. This column argues the Eurozone crisis may have been made worse by over-simplifying it as a debt crisis. The author suggests that the large institutional changes now afoot – the shift from Eurozone I to Eurozone II – are finally addressing the root causes, but they may be too little too late.Full Article: Misdiagnosing the Eurozone crisis: Perspectives from Asia

With the cover page of the Economist [1] [2] worrying about currency wars, and various analysts arguing whether the US can or cannot win such a "war" (see Naked

Our flame-grilled guide to currencies suggests the dollar is getting dearer COUNTRIES with McDonald's fast-food restaurants may only rarely become embroiled in military conflict (Russia and Ukraine are obvious exceptions at the moment), but currency wars are another matter.