The Brian Sullivan Blog
  • October 26, 2009 08:22 AM EDT by Brian Sullivan

    Does A Weak Dollar Help U.S. Manufacturing?

    Does a weaker dollar create manufacturing jobs?

    The data says no.

    Below is a chart of dollar index (dollar v. other currencies) from 1975 to present day.    It is adjusted to include the pre-Euro currencies.

    If a weak dollar is good for American manufacturing, should we have more manufacturing now than in 1975?

    Just 20 years ago nearly 17% of Americans worked in manufacturing.  Today that number is hovering just around 10%.   The dollar has lost about 25% of its value in that same time.

    Also keep in mind that because China's yuan is pegged to our dollar, as our currency falls in value so does theirs, making the relative value proposition the same.

    weak dollar

earle

It's a falling double-egded sword,unfortunately for whomever catches it,will sustain somekind of fiscal damage,period! Manufacturing will move offshore leaving more families with less purchasing power stateside,whereas their products will be more competitive,thus repatriation of US Currency will benefit the multinational it will in turn further weaken our dollar. Eventually the cat,and mouse game with China will come to a stand-off. The outcome has already been written by the "Wall Street Guru's

October 26, 2009 at 9:12 pm

about this blog

  • Brian Sullivan joined FOX Business Network (FBN) in April 2008 as an anchor. He co-anchors the 10am-12pm ET hours of the FOX Business block. Prior to joining FBN, Sullivan served as an anchor for Bloomberg Television where he hosted the programs Morning Call and In Focus.

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