1997 Asian Currency Crisis happening again

Second Verse, Same as the First, a Little Bit Louder and a Little Bit Worse
China surprised the financial markets on August 11, 2015 by devaluing their currency, the Renminbi (CNY), the equivalent of 2% versus the U.S. Dollar (USD). This is the largest daily move in the CNY in over 10 years and likely the first in a series of devaluations by the Chinese government. Since 2014, the Chinese had pegged their currency to the strengthening USD and watched it appreciate against many of the world’s currencies just as the USD was doing. Over the past year for example, the USD and CNY appreciated 20%, 25% and 12% against the euro, yen and South Korean won respectively. It just so happens that these currencies are the ones used by 3 of Chinas largest trade partners. Thus, maintaining a peg to the USD eroded export growth as China’s products became more expensive for countries other than the U.S to import. Conversely, in China the rising CNY brought further deflationary pressure as goods imported from countries that use currencies other than the USD became less expensive. Now, in an effort to level the global trade playing field, China has decided that the economic ha

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