February 01, 2011
The NYT told readers that:
“A stronger euro blunts the effect of rising prices for oil and other commodities, which are traditionally priced in dollars.” Actually, it does not matter at all that the oil and other commodities are priced in dollars, the point is that the euro has gone up in value. If the euro were to rise in value against other currencies then people in the euro zone would pay fewer euros for their oil even if oil was priced in euros.
In this story, the dollar is simply the medium of exchange. Oil is not fixed in price in dollars, the price of oil is fluctuating in dollars and all other currencies. The only question that matters is the value of the euro relative to other currencies, it doesn’t matter which currency is the basis for the purchases.
The piece also includes the interesting comment that:
“German wages have not started rising to alarming levels yet, Mr. Chaney said, ‘this is something that is on the radar screen.’” It is likely that most people would not be alarmed by the plausible rate of growth for German wages in the near future. The people who would find such wage growth “alarming,” are likely a very small subset of NYT readers or people in Europe and the United States.
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