In terms of global economic influence, the biggest failure of the recent yuan policy shift by Beijing is its inability to halt trade protectionism which, in my view, is the biggest risk facing Asia and the global economy in the coming years. Nevertheless, the small yuan revaluation will bring some short-term benefits to Asia's markets.
The yuan's 2.05% revaluation against the US dollar aside, Beijing's shift to a managed float for the yuan pegged to a currency basket amounts to a crawling yuan appreciation under the current balance of payments forces. The conventional wisdom is that while the yuan policy shift is small, it is the start of a series of...
