trade-weighted

Thankfully, the Bank for International Settlements provides a useful corrective with its monthly index of trade-weighted exchange rates.

Mr. Bergsten said the yuan is undervalued against the U. S. by 40% and 25% against on a trade- weighted basis .

As it happened, the next day, May 12th, the dollar's broad trade-weighted index plunged to its lowest level since 1997.

To be fair, the yuan has not fallen in trade-weighted terms over the past month, but it is still undervalued and needs to rise further.

After bouncing through the echo chamber of the forex markets, it helped push the dollar to a new trade-weighted low for the year.

terms of trade weighted by the volume of exports. It gives an indication of the purchasing power of exports.

When the yen peaked a few weeks ago, it had risen on a trade-weighted basis by 48 per cent in barely 18 months.

The overall trade-weighted value of the euro has already declined 12 per cent since the beginning of 2010.

NEER measures the value of a currency relative to a pool of other currencies on a trade-weighted basis.

and the yen's real trade-weighted value is at its lowest for at least 30 years.

Indeed, "the renminbi has actually weakened in trade-weighted terms since the reform was announced" .

Measured on a trade-weighted basis, it has fallen by a mere 0. 04% since the recent financial turbulence began on February 27th.

By December they agreed to let the dollar fall (by a trade-weighted average of 6. 5%) and the surcharge was removed.

In trade-weighted terms our calculations suggest that the yuan is a modest 7% undervalued, hardly grounds for a trade war.

Chinese officials have said publicly that they will not push down the yuan, and their currency has risen in trade-weighted terms.

Its real trade-weighted exchange rate (the best measure of competitiveness) is at its highest for 35 years.

Export growth still correlates with the trade-weighted exchange rate and Japan's business lobbyists are a noisy bunch.

Meanwhile, the dollar pulled back from a 15-month low on a trade-weighted basis as its recent sell-off ran out of steam.

Moreover, the fluctuations of current trade-weighted GDP of the relative country has a significantly impact on the processing trade.

The trade-weighted FAO index monitors the monthly change in a basket of 55 commodities, including meat, dairy, cereals, oils and sugar.

Sterling has lost around a quarter of its trade-weighted value since the middle of 2007.

Ted Truman of the Peterson Institute in Washington notes that Japan's real trade-weighted exchange rate is around its long-run average.

The 20% fall in the trade-weighted value of sterling since late 2007 ought to help firms price their exports more appealingly.

Mr. Redward has compared a trade-weighted index of the yuan's value against the actual spot price of the currency.

Meanwhile, the US dollar, on a trade-weighted basis, is back to a post-crisis low.

America's Congressmen, don't much care for nice debates about the equilibrium, trade-weighted value of a currency.

The trade-weighted exchange rate, a more comprehensive measure of movements in the yuan, also gained some ground.

On a trade-weighted basis the dollar has fallen by 3. 6% since the start of the year (see chart).

On a trade-weighted basis, the pound fell nearly 2 per cent, taking it to its weakest level since January 1997.

The appreciation in China's real trade-weighted exchange rate is only about a third to a half of what is needed.

Since the expenses scandal broke in early May, the trade-weighted pound has even strengthened 6 per cent.

That has also helped the dollar which is at its strongest on a trade-weighted basis since last August.

But it's bashing the buck hard by buying euros, keeping the yuan relatively weak on a trade-weighted basis.

On a trade-weighted basis the yuan is back to where it was when the financial crisis started.

In trade-weighted terms the currency is not overvalued by historical standards (see chart).

The chart shows the nominal exchange rate, in trade-weighted terms (ie, against the country's trading partners).

China's main defence, for now, is that the renminbi is still appreciating against a trade-weighted basket of currencies.

The dollar has fallen against most other currencies, so on a trade-weighted basis, the renmimbi has risen less.

On a trade-weighted basis, the currency has risen almost 13 per cent in less than two months, according to European Central Bank figures.

Indeed, in trade-weighted terms, against a basket of currencies, it has risen by 12% over the past six months.

On a trade-weighted basis, the dollar is also in unremarkable territory, as it is versus sterling.

In practice it is managed as a crawling peg against the dollar, which has risen 17 per cent in trade-weighted terms since mid-July.

Indeed, just as optimism has grown since stock markets troughed in March, so has the trade-weighted dollar fallen by 11 per cent.

Appreciation against a falling dollar leaves the yuan little changed on a trade-weighted basis.

On Thursday, the dollar dropped to its lowest trade-weighted level since 1996.

America's economy has slowed sharply this year, yet its currency has risen to a 15-year high in trade-weighted terms.

Its real trade-weighted value fell this month to its lowest since 1982 (see chart).

Over the same period the trade-weighted real exchange rate (calculated by JP Morgan) appreciated by only 13 per cent.

The bill was dropped, but the yuan has since risen by that magic amount in real trade-weighted terms (see left-hand chart, below).

On currency, China is unlikely to devalue RMB on a trade weighted basis despite a fall in export growth.

Between mid-2005 and mid-2009, China's real trade-weighted exchange rate appreciated by about 5. 5% a year.

The trade-weighted dollar index dropped to its lowest since 1992.

The ICE Dollar Index, which tracks the dollar against a trade-weighted basket of currencies, is down about 5% over the past month.

Moreover, as Mr Goldstein points out, the renminbi's weight in the trade-weighted dollar index is just 15 per cent.

In trade-weighted terms against a basket of currencies, sterling is only 3 per cent higher than in 1998.

As a result, the yuan's trade-weighted value has been dragged down this year by the sickly dollar, while many other currencies have soared.

On a trade-weighted basis, the euro is down 5 per cent in the last month and 11 per cent since six months ago.

On a trade-weighted basis, versus historical trading bands, the dollar is 12 per cent below "fair value" .

Measured against a trade weighted basket of currencies, the dollar recently broke above its 200-day moving average.

The dollar's value on a trade-weighted basis fell by 0. 6 per cent, with losses against the euro, the pound and the Australian dollar.

Yet, the 19% decline in the dollar's trade-weighted index since early 2002 has failed to trim the deficit.

Sterling has lost 15% of its trade-weighted value over the past year, and 5% over the past month.

It is true that the euro's slump has caused the renminbi to appreciate in trade-weighted terms by about 5 per cent since mid-March.

China accounts for only 10% of America's total trade, so a 10% revaluation would reduce the dollar's trade-weighted value by a mere 1%.

But the yen's real trade-weighted exchange rate remains historically weak.

On a trade-weighted basis, the dollar has fallen by around 10% over the past six months.

Since peaking in 2002, it has fallen by 24% against a trade-weighted basket of currencies.

After peaking in 2002, the dollar in trade-weighted terms has depreciated almost ever since.

On a trade-weighted basis, the euro has risen by more than 3 per cent since mid-August.

Two possibilities are South Africa (the trade-weighted rand is up 31 per cent this year) and Turkey.

Even last December, the trade-weighted real exchange rate calculated by JPMorgan was 7 per cent above its average since 1970.

In its latest move, the regulator steered the ruble's trade-weighted rate up 0. 3% last week.

A 20 per cent, appreciation would provide a meagre 3 per cent devaluation of the trade-weighted dollar.

It drives down our trade-weighted exchange rate too.

The trade-weighted real exchange rate, on the JPMorgan measure, is 10 per cent below the average of the "oil years" between 1980 and 2007.

If a 10% revaluation of the yuan were matched by all other Asian currencies, the dollar's trade-weighted index would fall by 4%.

A decline of 27% in sterling's trade-weighted value between July 2007 and March 2009 has also given a comparative edge to British exporters.

On a trade-weighted basis, the yuan is down 2% since last June.

But according to JPMorgan Chase, it has gained 12 per cent on a trade-weighted basis in the past year.

In 2007, the dollar lost 7. 5% of its value against a group of 26 currencies, according to a Federal Reserve trade-weighted index.

In real terms, the trade-weighted renminbi is up 7. 5% over the past six months and fully 20% over the past five years.

Since July the yuan has gained 10% in trade-weighted terms.

On a trade-weighted basis, it has gained a mere 0. 5 per cent, according to JP Morgan.

On a trade-weighted basis, it is 2. 3% weaker than it was on June 18th.

The real value of Brazil's trade-weighted currency has surged 24 per cent since 2007, punishing local industry even more.

In real trade-weighted terms it is about 10% cheaper than at the dollar's peak in 2002.

On a trade-weighted basis the renminbi has risen by about 14 per cent over the same time.

The euro's trade-weighted exchange rate has now risen by roughly 10% over its 2004-2006 average.

On a trade-weighted basis the renminbi is up just 2 per cent since July 2005, according to JP Morgan.

But on a trade-weighted basis, it fell 1. 8 per cent in January to April 2011, according to Bank for International Settlements.

The real value of Brazil's trade-weighted currency has risen 29 per cent this year. But its stock market is also up 133 per cent.

The dollar's trade-weighted index fell to a new low for 2009 at 76. 244.

The trade-weighted index for the dollar had dipped below 75, and was threatening last year's all-time low, when it bounced.

Yesterday, the dollar's trade-weighted index hit a new 12-month low at 76. 05.

And the trade-weighted dollar index has rallied by 1. 5 per cent in the past week.

For example, the global trade-weighted average tariff for all types of rice is 43 percent and reaches 217 percent for Japonica rice.

For example, the yen's trade-weighted value is around 150% stronger than it was in 1985.

Some suggest Hong Kong could manage its exchange rate using a trade-weighted basket of currencies, much like Singapore does.

trade-weighted effective exchange rate index

Trade weighted index of exchange rates

Trade-weighted effective exchange rate index of Hong Kong dollar