Lip Service in Yokohoma

China should not devalue their currency, urges the U.S. With the dollar, Americans see the issue as not so stark.

Super! On Sunday, the U.S. told China not to use the depreciation of the currency to boost exports — which it is, like all the other countries in the Asia-Pacific area, historically known for doing.

How much this official statement is worth is clear when you look closely at the statements by China’s President Hu Jintao: The People’s Republic would, of course, boost the domestic demand, he said in Yokohama. And he admits to the need for this reform in the currency system. It was also clear, unfortunately, that this is only “more or less a possibility.”

That doesn’t sound very promising, and you can’t blame him either: The U.S., which often wags its finger at China, has recently decided to pump $600 billion into the financial markets. The goal is, of course, to change the course of the dollar and boost exports.

Even more original: The Americans accuse China of currency manipulation, while at the same time use the printing presses to push their own currency. U.S. President Barack Obama replies only that he was never so confident in the U.S. economy as he is now. He must be a confident one-track man.