America: Export Nation?
How currency imbalances and the price of oil may transform Consumer-centric Economy into an Export-centric Nation
by
Thomas Schinkel
June 2008
The other day I was watching a news program on PBS where several oil industry experts in the oil industry were asked why the price of oil was so high. Very quickly they pointed to the two main culprits. One was the Federal Reserve which had made the fatally flawed decision to lower interest rates, starting in August of 2007. The other was that new wave of speculators, financial institutions that had entered into investing in oil futures but not knowing how to do it. In passing they noted that the dollar was low and that was causing problems for the oil markets too.
What did not get addressed is WHY the dollar was so low. In today’s business environment, anyone charged with figuring out the long term direction of their enterprise has these twin questions at the center of their concerns. And if you are thinking of selling your company, these issues are equally important, since they may dictate who your buyers will be and where they come from.
