Bernanke Says China Currency Undervaluation Represents Growing Economic Risk

The rhetoric in the U.S.-China currency stand-off continues to heat up as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke today told a conference that China's policy of undervaluing the yuan is endangering the global economy.  The New York Times has a good write up of the speech, where he followed Obama's lead in pressing China on our growing trade imbalances.  Bernanke seems to imply that the faster pace of economic recovery seen in India, China and other export-oriented countries may have come at the expense of slower growth here in the United States via their currency policies. He also defended his recent steps towards "quantitative easing" as necessary given the persistent unemployment and low rate of inflation.  “In sum, on its current economic trajectory the United States runs the risk of seeing millions of workers unemployed or underemployed for many years,” he will say. “As a society, we should find that outcome unacceptable.”