To the ire of many Americans, US assets are being sold to foreign investors at fire-sale prices courtesy of the beleaguered US dollar. That is the consensus, anyway, and one supported by the dollar’s 25 per cent decline on a broad trade-weighted basis since the start of 2002.

True, the more the dollar slumps against the euro, yen and other currencies, the cheaper it is for foreign investors to snap up US assets. That’s the theory. But reality is far different.