When Hank Paulson, US Treasury secretary, says the US believes in a strong dollar, he is merely repeating an empty mantra, for the Bush administration continues to rely almost entirely on an ever weakening dollar as the central thrust of its international economic policy.

When a European leader such as Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the group of 13 eurozone ministers, publicly demands discussions of the soaring euro at the upcoming Group of Seven industrial nations meeting in Washington, he is just venting his frustration, for it has been decades since the G7 accomplished anything on currency misalignments.