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These are the factors that will impel the US to go metric. As the world loses confidence in the US dollar and foreign investors refuse to fund the US deficits further, the dollar hegemony economic policy of the US will come to an end. When it ends, the US will actually have to start earning its bread instead of just printing it. Thus a greater emphasis will be placed on exports. If the world is demanding that US exports be metric, the US industry will have no choice but to provide the metric products the world would demand. One way for this would be for US manufacturers to be forced to follow ISO metric based standards at the expense of American inch based standards. Whether the US government would ever step in and make metric mandatory is another issue. But at least a push from the outside would push the US to the critical mass point and hopefully beyond the point of no return. Euric
Reuters
TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar nudged toward a record low against
the euro on Friday on worries about the strength of the U.S. economy and its
gaping trade deficit.
With the U.S. presidential vote out of the way and few signs that European policy-makers were overly concerned about the rising euro, traders said that unless upcoming U.S. jobs data came in much stronger than expected, the dollar would stay under pressure.
"That's despite the fact that oil prices have fallen from highs and U.S. stocks are rallying -- developments that would normally support the dollar." As of 2154 EST, the euro bought around $1.2882, up slightly from late New York trade and near Thursday's high of 1.2898. It was around 0.3 percent off the record high of 1.2927 marked in February. The dollar fetched around 105.95 yen, slightly down on the day. On Thursday it fell to a fresh seven-month low of 105.68. The dollar gained little support from a sharp decline in U.S. oil prices, which fell more than 4 percent on Thursday, helping push the S&P 500 stock index to its highest close in more than two years. JOBS BACK IN FOCUS The market is expected to focus on economic indicators for clues about the health of the U.S. economy, particularly employment data for October due at 0830 EST. A Reuters poll showed U.S. non-farm payrolls rose by 169,000, compared with a rise of 96,000 in September. Traders said a figure of above 200,000 could ignite a short-covering rally in the U.S. currency, since short-dollar positions had built up to unusually high levels. A reading above 200,000 would make it highly likely that the Federal Reserve would increase interest rates at its next policy-setting meeting on Nov. 10, and raise the likelihood that it would follow that up with an additional hike in December. But many analysts are sceptical that the data will provide much support for the dollar. "The issue is what the Fed will do after next week, and I'm leaning to the view that it will go a little slower and may take an extended pause, including skipping the December meeting," said Harvinder Kalirai, head of Asia research and analysis at State Street. The Fed has raised rates three times since June, bringing its overnight funds rate to 1.75 percent. Despite those rises, the dollar index which shows the dollar's movement against a basket of currencies, has fallen five percent since the end of May, mainly on worries about the ability of the United States to fund its huge trade deficit. Kalirai said that in addition to perennial worries about the U.S. trade and budget deficits, a view that U.S. economic growth was slowing was also working against the dollar. He said the euro would likely break above February's record high in coming months, while he expected the dollar to challenge a four-year low of 103.40 yen hit in March. "It's just a question of when, not if, for the euro high... And I think from a medium term perspective the dollar/yen is a two figure currency," he said. Some traders say the dollar's falls have been exacerbated by a perception that European policy-makers are not particularly concerned about the recent rise in the euro, which has helped moderate the impact of higher oil prices on its economy. Speaking at a news conference after a European Central Bank meeting on Thursday, ECB President Jean Claude Trichet said fast currency moves hurt economic growth, a well-worn refrain that analysts said did not suggest any great concern. |
