Quantitative Uneasiness
The Federal Reserve last week implemented a new round of stimulus by pumping billions of dollars into the U.S. economy has further eroded the Obama administration's popularity around the world. The Fed will purchase $600 billion in U.S. Treasury bonds-in an attempt to hold down long term interest rates and jump start the economy- a measure known as Quantitative easing . President Obama defended the move while on a 10 day Asian trip. "The Fed's mandate, my mandate is, to grow our economy. And that's not just good for the US but the world as a whole". The backlash from an increasingly jaded international community is growing. During this weeks G2o summit in S. Korea, US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner has lectured other nations to reign in their trade imbalances-which hurts US exports. Germany, which relies heavily on exports has been vocal in its criticism of Washington. "It doesn't add up when the Americans accuse the Chinese of currency manipulation