The value of China's currency, the renminbi, has jumped to the top of the U.S. foreign policy agenda with China, regularly garnering U.S. headlines, but expert analysis on the issue has been lacking. U.S. leaders disagree about the effects of a revaluation on U.S.-China trade, the creation of jobs, economic recovery and global imbalances, with heated debate on both sides.
In this program of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, and Martin Wolf, chief economics commentator for the Financial Times, debate whether a large revaluation of China's currency would make the world economy healthier, and what course the U.S. should take on this critical issue. The debate, which took place on May 25, 2010 in New York City, was moderated by National Committee President Stephen Orlins.
The National Committee is a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries. The National Committee focuses its exchange, educational, and policy programs on international relations, economic development and management, governance and legal affairs, environmental and other global concerns, mass communication, and education administration -- addressing these issues with respect to the People's Republic, Hong Kong SAR and Taiwan.
Bio
Stephen A. Orlins
President of the National Committee on United States-China Relations since 2005, Mr. Orlins was managing director of Carlyle Asia and chairman of Taiwan Broadband Communications.
Prior to joining Carlyle, Mr. Orlins was senior advisor to AEA Investors, Inc. and a managing director of Lehman Brothers and president of Lehman Brothers Asia (1983-1991). From 1976 to 1979, Mr. Orlins was an attorney-advisor in the office of the Legal Advisor of the U.S. Department of State, where he was a member of the legal team that established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. Mr. Orlins is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
Stephen S. Roach
Stephen S. Roach is Managing Director and Chief Economist of Morgan Stanley, a leading global financial services firm. In this role, he oversees the Firm's team of economists located in New York, London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Before joining Morgan Stanley in 1982, Mr. Roach was Vice President for Economic Analysis for the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in New York.
He also served on the research staff of the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. from 1972-79 - where he supervised the preparation of the official Federal Reserve projections of the U.S. economy. Prior to that, he was a research fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.
Martin Wolf
Martin Wolf is associate editor and chief economics commentator at the Financial Times, London. He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in 2000 for services to financial journalism.
Mr Wolf is an associate member of the governing body of Nuffield College, Oxford, honorary fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, an honorary fellow of the Oxford Institute for Economic Policy (Oxonia) and a special professor at the University of Nottingham.
He has been a forum fellow at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos since 1999 and a member of its International Media Council since 2006. He was made a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa, by Nottingham University in July 2006. He was made a Doctor of Science (Economics) of London University, honoris causa, by the London School of Economics in December 2006.
Purchase or sale of one national currency in exchange for another nation's currency, usually conducted in a market setting. Foreign exchange makes possible international transactions such as imports and exports and the movement of capital between countries. The value of one foreign currency in relation to another is defined by the exchange rate.
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