All of the fuss by the G-7 and the G-20 at their meeting this week about whether Japan should be condemned for attempting to end decades of stagnation by easing monetary policy, with the effect of driving down the yen, makes for good copy. Especially since the various G-7 spokesmen put on a Keystone Kops performance after the meeting. One said that the agreement to let markets set exchange rates was aimed at Japan, its new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe having talked its currency down by 20 percent against the dollar since September. Then another spokesman said it wasn’t aimed at any particular country. No matter, those hurling the first brickbat had to be careful: both Britain and America have presided over policies that have driven down the value of their currencies.  

No matter what a G-something communiqué says, Japan has no intention of preventing a further fall in the yen, Britain is delighted that sterling has fallen against the euro, Federal Reserve Board chairman Ben Bernanke will continue printing money that has the unintended (?) effect of keeping the dollar lower than it would otherwise be, and the bleats of French president Francois Hollande about an over-valued euro are falling on deaf ears in Berlin. When it comes to policies that affect the exchange rate, a nation’s politicians will do whatever they believe will increase their nation’s growth rate and lower its unemployment rate.