THERE IS INDEED something new in financial markets: overseas followers of the Bush administration’s so-called “strong dollar policy” are learning the meaning of the American colloquialism “Snow job.” As America’s traders know, that means deception, accomplished by burying the listener under a meaningless flow of what Eliza Doolittle contemptuously called, “words, words, words.”

When Treasury secretary John Snow last week once again assured the world that the United States is devoted to “a strong dollar,” traders snorted “Snow job,” and continued to sell dollars. In China, long lines formed at banks as depositors withdrew their dollar accounts and converted them to euros, yen or even China’s own currency. The few dollar bulls that can be found think the decline will end soon, because they expect China to respond to the pressure that President Bush is exerting in an effort to get that country’s authorities to relax the yuan’s peg with the dollar, allowing the American currency to rise against its Chinese counterpart. My guess is that the Chinese authorities will continue to say the right words about their long-run intentions, and might even allow a tiny adjustment. But it will not be of a sufficient magnitude to have a major impact on currency markets.