Why Asia Watches the Dollar Differently
Something interesting happens every time the U.S. dollar moves sharply. In the United States, currency fluctuations are often discussed as an abstract macroeconomic issue — inflation expectations, Federal Reserve policy, or interest rate cycles. But across Asia, the dollar is not abstract at all. It is personal. From Seoul to Jakarta, from Tokyo to Bangkok, households, companies, and policymakers watch the dollar with a level of attention that many Americans might find surprising. Having followed financial markets from an Asian perspective, I’ve often felt that the dollar carries a different emotional weight here — shaped by history, trade dependence, and past crises. The Dollar Is Not Just a Currency in Asia For many Asian economies, the dollar functions almost like an external economic climate. Exports are frequently priced in dollars. Energy imports are settled in dollars. Corporate debt, shipping contracts, and commodity purchases often depend on dollar liquidity. When ...