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Stopping the New Chinese "Hoard" From Dominating the World
William R. Hawkins
Saturday, August 04, 2007

In his famous collection of essays Capitalism and Freedom, Milton Friedman made an argument that has been paraphrased endlessly by those who dismiss the notion that trade deficits are a problem.

Postulating a greatly undervalued yen (1,000 to the dollar), the Nobel economist stated that at such an, “exchange rate the Japanese could sell much to us, we, nothing to them. Suppose we pay them in paper dollars. What would the Japanese exporters do with the dollars? The cannot eat them, wear the, or live in them. If they were willing simply to hold them, then the printing industry-- printing the dollar bills-- would be a magnificent export industry. Its output would enable us to have the great things in life provided nearly free by the Japanese."

Forty-five years later, and subject to the “Wal-Mart effectâ€