Most of you are too young to remember, but the phrase “sound as a dollar” at one time was more than a shelved anachronism.
Earlier this year, the U.S. currency dropped below 100 Japanese yen to the dollar and kept falling, finally bottoming out at around 83 toward the end of May. This was taken as further evidence that the so-called American Century was drawing to a close after about 50 years.
However, Japan itself suffers from several major economic problems, and the dollar began edging higher. Knowing a good thing when they see it, the world’s leading central bankers last week went with the trend and pushed the dollar even higher.
A stronger dollar is good news for U.S. tourists. But U.S. producers of goods for export may be undercut by competitors.
