Contrary to the War Party’s prediction that the Saddam capture would solve all that ails us, Robert Samuelson writes: “The Saddam rally was a bust. If you expected the tyrant’s capture to boost stocks or the dollar, you were disappointed—and therein lies a story. A great drama is now unfolding in the world’s money markets. In 2003, the United States’ current account deficit (a broad measure of trade) will total around $550 billion, a modern record. Because Americans pay for imports with dollars, this means that every day foreigners must decide whether to keep about $1.5 billion in dollars. If they sell dollars for euros, yen or other currencies, the dollar’s exchange rate will drop—with huge and possibly disruptive consequences for all trading nations and global stock markets. After Saddam’s capture, U.S. stocks actually declined slightly, as did the dollar.”
