Shipping out on the QE2

Said Bernanke: "I wish I were abler
To stimulate use of our labor,
So I'll cheapen our bucks
And we'll export more trucks,
Which is sometimes called 'Beggar Thy Neighbor.'"   

The Fed's much-anticipated, $600B second round of quantitative easing (QE2) was announced this week, with the stated intention of increasing credit and stimulating  economic activity.  Many argue, as in this commentary in the Globe and Mail, that QE2 is really a means of cheapening the US dollar and enabling America to export its way out of the crisis, or rather to export the crisis itself.  However, others can play that game, too.