Steve Hanke and John Greenwood are professors at Johns Hopkins University. The highly prestigious school is based in Baltimore, and its location is mentioned simply because it’s relevant to this opinion piece. More on that in a bit.
For now, in an op-ed the duo published recently in the Wall Street Journal, Hanke and Greenwood explained the strength of the Japanese yen as a “money supply” phenomenon. They cite monetary aggregates that indicate what they deem “anemic” money growth of 2.6% from 1992 to 2020, and their view is that the previous number has been indicative of monetary tightness on the part of the Bank of Japan. While the yen has undeniably been “strong” relative to the dollar since the 1970s, history doesn’t support their analysis.
Read Full Article »
