Obama Accuses China of Intentionally Lowering its Currency Value

This weekend, President Barack Obama spoke at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu, stating that China is now a “grown up” economy, and must learn to act more responsibly on its currency.

“We welcome China’s peaceful rise,” he said, but Beijing should cease “gaming” the international economic system and help level the field for foreign businesses from the U.S. and around the world.  He added that China is deliberately keeping its national currency at a low point in order to support Chinese exporters.

“Most economists estimate that the renminbi (yuan0 is devalued by 20 to 25 percent,” he said. “That means our exports to China are that much more expensive and their imports into the United States are that much cheaper.”

October: Largest Job Creation Month

Good news for an American economy that needs something positive.  According to the U.S. Labor Department, the American economy had the biggest job creation that it’s had in five months during October.  Economists were cautiously optimistic with this news.  As Carl Riccadonna, an economist at Deutsche Bank said, “This is not a gangbusters report, but it is very important. It shows us that the momentum in employment is building.”

In a White House statement, President Barack Obama said that the jobs report is “encouraging news” and he encouraged both Democrats and Republicans to propose more ways to boost the economy.