For a discussion of competitive devaluation, see Currency war. For James G. Rickards' Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis, see James G. Rickards.
Currency Wars (simplified Chinese: 货币战争; traditional Chinese: 貨幣戰爭; pinyin: Huòbì zhànzhēng), also referred to as The Currency War,[5] is an essay by Chinese author Song Hongbing.[6] Originally published in 2007, it gained a resurgence in 2009 and has been described as a prominent exponent of a recently emerged genre labeled "economic nationalist" literature.[7] Some people accused the book of spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories. The premise of the book is that Western countries are ultimately controlled by a group of international bankers, which, according to Song, runs their central banks. It uses the claim that the Federal Reserve is a private body to support its role.
Reportedly selling over 200,000 copies in addition to an estimated 400,000 unlicensed copies in circulation in 2009,[8][9] it was a bestseller in China, reportedly being read by many senior level government and business leaders in the country.[7] Unlike other books within the genre, e.g. Unhappy China, Currency Wars has been received more positively by the Chinese leadership as its recommendations are seen as less aggressive towards the US.[7] It was however criticized as being far-fetched[10] and relying on conspiracism.[11][12] As of 2011, more than one million copies of this book have been sold.[13]
Song also is of the opinion that the famous U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, is not a department of state functions, but several private banks operated by the private sector, and that these private banks are loyal to the ubiquitous Rothschild family.[15][16][17]
On June 4, 1963, President Kennedy signed an executive order, which, as an amendment to Executive Order 10289, delegated the authority to issue silver certificates (notes convertible to silver on demand) to the Secretary of the Treasury. Song says the direct consequence was that the Federal Reserve lost its monopoly to control money.
The book looks back at history and argues that fiat currency itself is a conspiracy; it sees in the abolition of representative currency and the installment of fiat currency a struggle between the "banking clique" and the governments of the western nations, ending in the victory of the former. It advises the Chinese government to keep a vigilant eye on China's currency and instate a representative currency.
Reception
The book has achieved bestseller status in China.[18] Although acknowledging the book's huge popularity in China, the Financial Times described it as only passably entertaining and its thesis as far-fetched.[10]
Fred Hu, managing director of Goldman Sachs Group, said the currency wars were "non-existent".[19] He uses in his review words as "a simple out of line, outrageous distortion", "many errors, out of context, far-fetched, exaggerated, or simply speculate, uncertain", and the conclusion to this book as a "melted mixed the ultra-left trend of thought, far-right tendencies, populism, isolationism, anarchism".[20]
According to Zhang Jiayi, it could be argued that the "currency wars" series of books' goal in promoting the conspiracy theory is precisely to meet the angry psychology of youth.[11]
Several Chinese-American scholars also gave the first book negative reviews. Chen Zhiwu (Yale University) affirmed the reference values of the details the book provided, such as "what the Rothschild family did, how impacts the financial sector has on a country's development, etc".[citation needed] However, he finds the author, by that time the structured finance department manager of Hong Yuan securities,[24] lacks financial expertise to be qualified to prescribe China with future directions. Zhang Xin (University of Toledo/Ohio) finds the book rich in historical knowledge, of which many he would not be able to analyse, but as a currency and financial system researcher, he believes the framework of the book is completely wrong and criticizes the book as lacking in "common sense".[citation needed]
The author responded to these comments by saying "While many scholars have voiced their objections to this book, they are aimed at the details of the book, not its logic or structure."[25]
Sequels
In July 2009, the book was followed by a sequel, Currency Wars 2: World of Gold Privilege (Chinese: 货币战争2：金权天下), published by China Industry and Commerce Publishing House (ISBN978-9573265214),[26] which the Financial Times reported as being one of the most popular books in China by late 2009.[18] More than two million copies have been sold.[13] In this book, Song predicted that by 2024, the world's single currency system will mature. He believes that if China cannot be dominant in this system, it should not participate, but should be self-reliant, have their own sphere of financial influence.[27]
In May 2011, a second sequel, Currency Wars 3: Financial High Frontier (Chinese: 货币战争3：金融高边疆), was published by Yuan-Liou Publishing (ISBN978-9573267843). It discusses more specifically modern Chinese history, from Chiang Kai-shek to the depreciation trend of the U.S. dollar in the long term, seen from a currency war perspective. It pushes towards an isolationist financial policy.
^Note: A Korean translation of the book exists, translated by Cha Hye-jeong (차혜정), titled 화폐전쟁, published in 2008 by Random House Korea (랜덤하우스코리아), ISBN9788925521190
^Note: A Japanese translation of the book exists, translated by Kawamoto Kayo (河本佳世) and Hashimoto Sekiya (橋本碩也), titled 通貨戦争, published in 2010 by 武田ランダムハウスジャパン, ISBN427000620X
^Note: A Polish translation of the book exists, translated by Tytus Sierakowski, titled "Wojna o pieniądz", published in 2011 by Wydawnictwo Wektory, ISBN9788360562451
^Note: A French translation of the book exists, titled "La guerre des monnaies - La Chine et le nouvel ordre mondial", published in 2013 by Le retour aux sources, ISBN9782355120541
^Wong, Edward (2008-06-17). "Booming, China Faults U.S. Policy on the Economy". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2009-03-29. 'This time, the Chinese side is trying to change its attitude to be more active, to be more aggressive, to balance the two sides,' said Song Hongbing, author of 'The Currency War', a best-selling if conspiratorial book on the American economy.
^Sang-Keun, Kim (2009-10-15). "Currency Wars by Song Hongbing". Retrieved 2009-11-05. First of all, the book reveals that the Rothschild family is the richest family with $5 trillion whereas Bill Gates 'only' have $40 billion. The Rothschild family's wealth is 100 times the Bill Gates' wealth.
