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Why a strong U.S. dollar could be great for some and harmful to others
The U.S. dollar is appreciating in value against other currencies — an increase that comes with some benefits, but can also potentially be a drag on the economy.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Thanks to inflation, the U.S. dollar's value is eroding2 at home. But when you trade your dollars against other currencies overseas, its value is growing. Adrian Ma and Wailin Wong, our colleagues over at NPR's The Indicator3, explain who benefits and who doesn't.
ADRIAN MA, BYLINE4: According to a couple of popular indicators5 that track the value of the dollar against a whole bunch of other currencies, the dollar has appreciated somewhere between 8 and 13% just in the past year. When we were looking around for a guest to help explain why the dollar is getting stronger, our producer found an economist6 from the Brookings Institution named David Dollar. And we thought, come on.
DAVID DOLLAR: Right. So there's a word for this, you know - an aptronym - someone whose name is appropriate for their employment. So like, a Baker7 who's a baker. So I have an aptronym. I'm an economist, focusing very much on the international economy, named Dollar.
WAILIN WONG, BYLINE: So he's a perfect person to explain why the dollar is stronger right now.
MA: Yeah. And David says a big reason for it is that, well, there's a lot of turmoil8 and uncertainty9 in the world right now.
DOLLAR: So whenever there's a big, unexpected event in the world, people tend to come into dollars. We call it a safe haven10 currency.
MA: And we're talking about money being moved from big institutional investors11, like banks and retirement12 funds. They're looking for a relatively13 stable place to park that money.
WONG: On top of seeking safety, though, investors, as always, are looking to make money. And that's another reason the dollar is up.
DOLLAR: Right now. Our U.S. government 10-year bond is paying 2.8%. And that's a big increase just in the last few months.
MA: But in order for international investors to get that sweet, sweet U.S. government bond yield, they have to buy U.S. bonds. And to do that, they've got to get their hands on some U.S. dollars. And so that is where investors turn to the foreign exchange markets.
WONG: One thing worth emphasizing here - a stronger dollar is usually not great for consumers in other countries. It means American goods and services are more expensive.
MA: And here's one other group that is also hurt by a stronger dollar - multinational14 corporations like Apple and Tesla or Procter & Gamble. Because they get so much of their revenue from consumers in other countries, big shifts in the exchange rates could influence where and how they do business.
DOLLAR: If you're serving the world, what you do in the United States is now going to be more expensive, and what you do in other countries is going to be less expensive in a sense. So you might shift some activities out of the United States. You know, for example, if you have multiple plants and you have a little bit of excess capacity, you might idle a plant in the United States and rely more on plants in other countries.
WONG: Obviously not good for the American workers in those plants.
MA: Yeah. And that is a really good point. Also, a stronger dollar can be a drag on the economies of a lot of different countries. It could mean U.S. goods get more expensive for them or their debts in U.S. dollars get harder to pay off. And that is not great, especially for emerging market economies. And then, on top of that, through the push and pull of the global financial ecosystem15, that can bounce back to the home of the dollar, the U.S.
WONG: Wailin Wong
MA: Adrian Ma, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF MOKHOV'S "GOLDEN WAVES")
1 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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2 eroding | |
侵蚀,腐蚀( erode的现在分词 ); 逐渐毁坏,削弱,损害 | |
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3 indicator | |
n.指标;指示物,指示者;指示器 | |
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4 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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5 indicators | |
(仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的)指针( indicator的名词复数 ); 指示物; (车辆上的)转弯指示灯; 指示信号 | |
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6 economist | |
n.经济学家,经济专家,节俭的人 | |
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7 baker | |
n.面包师 | |
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8 turmoil | |
n.骚乱,混乱,动乱 | |
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9 uncertainty | |
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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10 haven | |
n.安全的地方,避难所,庇护所 | |
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11 investors | |
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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12 retirement | |
n.退休,退职 | |
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13 relatively | |
adv.比较...地,相对地 | |
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14 multinational | |
adj.多国的,多种国籍的;n.多国籍公司,跨国公司 | |
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15 ecosystem | |
n.生态系统 | |
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