Alternatively, it might turn out to be a pretty good counterbalance to China's tampering with their money supply to keep the yuan artificially much cheaper than it would be in a free market.
Everybody "tampers" with their money supply. And there is no such thing as a "free market". Not in currency, international trade, etc. All markets are controlled and manipulated. It's like every parrots what they hear.
Edit:
Oh god. Here comes the "CCP" nonsense. All countries have tight capital controls. And the tight capital control was part of the bargain for trade between china and the US. It's not like they did it secretly. They did it openly for decades as it was their stated goal and provided benchmarks and press releases. It's like the Fed openly advocating for inflation of 3% for decades and you claiming that they are "tampering". It isn't "tampering". It is the goal/agreement/system/etc. Now whether that capital control regime should continue is another debate. Just like whether 3% inflation is a worthy target. But to claim otherwise is just peter navarro style nonsense. It's just parroting.
Edit1:
> The Euro is the 'least tampered' big currency arguably because they have 25 nations each of whom would scream if the other tampered, meaning almost by definition it has to have integrity.
Hard to imagine such nonsense on HN. One of the problems in the EU is that some countries, like greece/italy/etc, feel that the value of the euro is being too greatly manipulated by germany. It's why britain was part of the EU but kept their currency. It's why every few years you hear about greece or italy leaving the EU/euro. The idea that the euro isn't manipulated is nonsense. All currencies are manipulated to achieve the goals of the nation/region/business community/banks/etc. And all currencies are political instruments as well as financial ones.
So this isn't helpful because a) there is 'tampering' but of different degrees and b) the 'freedom' of a market is also one of degrees.
Just because there's no such thing as a 'free market' doesn't mean that some are not more open than others.
The Euro is the 'least tampered' big currency arguably because they have 25 nations each of whom would scream if the other tampered, meaning almost by definition it has to have integrity. The USD somewhat less so, but in times of war or crisis it will be. China has a fully politicized currency.
The OPs point is actually valid - any weakening of the USD might more accurately reflect what currencies might look like within similar Fed regimes. So long as it's not a crash it might help the US to soften a little.
The paradox is, in a 'global' time of crisis ... people actually seek USDs! So when the US eventually tries to push that weird dynamic to a tipping point, which we are arguably already doing ...
Welcome to the New World Monetary Order - value can hardly be measured in currency because it's made up, so get your hands on something else ... like real-estate! Which would explain a few bubbles.
Sure, but there's degrees of tampering; not many countries can get away with implementing the kind of tight capital control regime that the CCP has in place.
