Mr. Bernanke Goes to War by Barry Eichengreen
In October 2010 Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega warned of an impending ?currency war?. The United States, Britain, Switzerland and Japan, Mantega complained, were all simultaneously attempting to push down their currencies in an effort to export their way out of their economic doldrums. Their policies were in obvious conflict, since not every country can weaken its exchange rate against the others. This was a zero-sum game that could only come to grief.