The Treasury Department once again declined to label China a currency manipulator, despite arguing that the yuan “remains significantly undervalued” and should rise further. They basically patted themselves on the back and tried to show that their policy of engagement with China has worked to this point.

Reports indicate fresh clashes with riot police inside Tehran, Iran today, but they do not have necessarily the same rationale as the Arab uprising. These stem from the collapse of the Iranian currency, a direct result of international sanctions on the Islamic Republic over their nuclear program.

Greg Sargent has an interesting by-product of the electoral debate over China, and particularly Chinese currency manipulation. Romney has used this as part of his five-point plan to improve the US economy. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) casually points out that there’s a bill on the table awaiting a vote in the House that would deal with the issue:

The Republican Party platform includes an endorsement of a commission to study the return of America to the gold standard, a gift to Ron Paul supporters who have steadfastly supported the 19th century-era idea.

Paul Ryan, like all House Republicans, voted against the stimulus package. Then Paul Ryan, like a bunch of House Republicans, wrote letters to federal agencies requesting stimulus funds for his district. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this – if there’s money on the table, you’re not doing your job as a legislator unless you try to grab some of it – but it does smack of hypocrisy. That’s especially true if you deny writing the letters and then get presented with them

The Bank of England, People’s Bank of China and the European Central Bank all cut lending rates or added quantitative easing today, a near-global spurt of monetary stimulus designed to increase economic growth. Because the Federal Reserve hasn’t joined in, the dollar is growing stronger, which is bad news for US exports.

The EU has come up with a plan, to be discussed at this week’s summit, to dramatically consolidate fiscal policymaking power in a Eurozone leadership figure, without authorizing the kind of fiscal transfers that would smooth over imbalances and make the currency union a true “United States of Europe.”

Someone’s a little touchy about being properly blamed for destroying their own economy. José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, lit up at critics at the G20 summit in Mexico, though he’s been a strong advocate of austerity policies.

I was on The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur last night, talking about Iceland and how differently they have managed their economic crisis compared to the rest of the world.

US companies report slowing sales in Europe, which is having a direct effect on their bottom lines. The EU as a unit is bigger than the US or China, and if they’re in recession, that has an impact on sales everywhere. That’s especially true because a crash in the euro’s exchange rate has made US products relatively more expensive. A “strong” dollar hurts our trade position.