NEW YORK, Jan. 25,Reuter: Secretary Treasury James Baker will tell President Ronald Reagan in a briefing this week that the falling dollar is a boon to the U.S. economy, the New York Times reported today.
The newspaper, quoting an unidentified administration aide who has seen the briefing papers, said Baker and Beryl Sprinkel, Chairman of the President’s Council of Economic Advisers, will also tell the President tomorrow that wild fluctuations in the stock market are no cause for concern.
The newspaper quoted a White House spokesman, Dale Petroskey, as confirming the meeting. But he declined to discuss the subject matter.
According to the newspaper, Baker will tell the President the plunge of the dollar, particularly against the West German mark and the Japanese yen, spurs sales of U.S. made industrial goods to those countries.
But Baker will caution that if the dollar is allowed to decline too far, it could wind up hurting U.S. sales to Japan and West Germany by throwing their economies into recession, the paper said.
The briefing papers also note the United States has not done as well in exports to countries where the dollar has declined only moderately, such as Taiwan and South Korea, the newspaper said.
The newspaper said the economic officials would argue that the administration should resist any attempts in Congress to further regulate the stock market in order to control recent fluctuations.
Article extracted from this publication >> January 30, 1987
