During the summer of 2006, Chinese leaders focused economic policy on the danger of overheating. As it did in the 2004 round of economic contraction, policy involved a potent combination of monetary and administrative measures. However, unlike 2004, policy instruments this time have been well coordinated across financial, macroeconomic, and administrative measures, even including a slight acceleration in the rate of appreciation of the RMB exchange rate. The result is an economic policy package that is stable and consistent, but that may not be bold and flexible enough to meet the needs of the extremely dynamic Chinese economy. The recent visit to China by U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson should be interpreted as an effort to nudge China out of this extreme policy stability. Paulson’s meeting with President Hu Jintao injected some flexibility into the balance of forces that determine Chinese economic policy, but probably not enough to result in a major change at this time.

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