Currency Wars

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{{Infobox book

| image = Currency Wars.jpg

| image_size =

| caption =

| author = Song Hongbing

| name = Currency Wars

| country = China

| language = Chinese, Korean,Note: A Korean translation of the book exists, translated by Cha Hye-jeong (차혜정), titled 화폐전쟁, published in 2008 by Random House Korea (랜덤하우스코리아), {{ISBN|9788925521190}} Japanese,Note: A Japanese translation of the book exists, translated by Kawamoto Kayo (河本佳世) and Hashimoto Sekiya (橋本碩也), titled 通貨戦争, published in 2010 by 武田ランダムハウスジャパン, {{ISBN|427000620X}} PolishNote: A Polish translation of the book exists, translated by Tytus Sierakowski, titled "Wojna o pieniądz", published in 2011 by Wydawnictwo Wektory, {{ISBN|9788360562451}} French,Note: A French translation of the book exists, titled "La guerre des monnaies - La Chine et le nouvel ordre mondial", published in 2013 by Le retour aux sources, {{ISBN|9782355120541}} Vietnamese

| subject = Financial history

| genre = Economic antisemitism

| publisher =

| release_date = 2007

| media_type = Hardcover, paperback

| isbn = 978-957-32-6379-1

| dewey =

| congress =

| oclc =

| preceded_by =

}}Currency Wars ({{zh|t=貨幣戰爭|s=货币战争|p=Huòbì zhànzhēng}}), also referred to as The Currency War,{{cite news

| last = Wong

| first = Edward

| title = Booming, China Faults U.S. Policy on the Economy

| url =https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/2008/06/17/world/asia/17china.html

| date = June 17, 2008

| accessdate =February 15, 2025

| page = 1

| quote = 'This time, the Chinese side is trying to change its attitude to be more active, to be more aggressive, to balance the two sides,' said Song Hongbing, author of 'The Currency War', a best-selling if conspiratorial book on the American economy.

| work=The New York Times}} is an antisemitic essay by Chinese author Song Hongbing.{{cite web|url=http://book.sina.com.cn/news/c/2009-07-25/1448258591.shtml|title=宋鸿兵简介|date=July 25, 2009|work=sina.com.cn}} Originally published in 2007, it gained a resurgence in 2009 and has been described as a prominent exponent of a recently emerged genre labeled "economic nationalist" literature. The premise of the book is that Western countries are controlled by a group of Jewish international bankers, which, according to Song, runs their central banks. It uses the claim that the Federal Reserve is a private body to support its role.

Reportedly selling over 200,000 copies in addition to an estimated 400,000 unlicensed copies in circulation in 2009,{{cite news

|last = McGregor

|first = Richard

|title = Chinese buy into currency war plot

|url = http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22487560-36375,00.html?from=public_rss

|accessdate = 2009-03-29

|date = 2007-09-27

|work = The Australian

|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081202175411/http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,22487560-36375,00.html?from=public_rss

|archive-date = 2008-12-02

|url-status = dead

}}{{cite web |last=McGregor |first=Richard |date=2007-09-25 |title=Chinese buy into conspiracy theory |url=https://www.ft.com/content/70f2a23c-6b83-11dc-863b-0000779fd2ac |accessdate=2009-03-29 |work=Financial Times}} it was a bestseller in China, reportedly being read by many senior level government and business leaders in the country.{{cite news |last=Ng |first=Grace |date=2009-04-06 |title=Chinese flip new page in push to be superpower: New wave of bestsellers pressing Beijing to exert its economic influence |url= |accessdate= |work=The Straits Times |location=Singapore |id={{NewsBank text|1276519E2143E650}}. NewspaperSG [https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes20090406-1.2.16.5.1 straitstimes20090406-1.2.16.5.1], [https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes20090406-2.2.16.5.1 straitstimes20090406-2.2.16.5.1] (from microfilm [https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/browse/f81a4017-bb01-4faf-8b69-ae4cd08ffb17?focus=microfilm&reel=NL30002 NL30002]). PressReader [https://www.pressreader.com/singapore/the-straits-times/20090406/page/11 singapore/the-straits-times/20090406/page/11].}} Unlike other books within the genre, e.g. Unhappy China, Currency Wars has been received more positively by the Chinese leadership as its recommendations are seen as less aggressive towards the US. It was however criticized as being far-fetched and relying on conspiracism. As of 2011, more than one million copies of this book have been sold.{{cite web|url=http://thebookcheckout.com/insidethebook/inside_the_book.php?site_id%3D3%26pdf_id%3D2771%26id%3D2796 |accessdate=June 13, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830193033/http://thebookcheckout.com/insidethebook/inside_the_book.php?site_id=3&pdf_id=2771&id=2796 |archivedate=August 30, 2011 |title=Currency Wars II }}

Synopsis

According to the book, Western countries in general, and the United States in particular, are controlled by a clique of Jewish international bankers, who use currency manipulation (hence the title) to gain wealth by first loaning money in USD to developing nations and then shorting those country's currency. The Japanese Lost Decade, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, the Latin American financial crisis and others are attributed to this cause. It also claims that the Rothschild family has the wealth of 5 trillion dollars whereas Bill Gates only has 40 billion dollars.{{cite web

| last = Sang-Keun

| first = Kim

| title = Currency Wars by Song Hongbing

| url = http://sangecon.wordpress.com/2009/10/15/currency-wars-by-song-hongbing/

| accessdate = 2009-11-05

| date = 2009-10-15

| quote = First of all, the book reveals that the Rothschild family is the richest family with $5 trillion whereas Bill Gates 'only' have $40 billion. The Rothschild family's wealth is 100 times the Bill Gates' wealth.}}

Song also is of the opinion that the famous U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, is not a department of state functions, but several private banks operated by the private sector, and that these private banks are loyal to the ubiquitous Rothschild family.{{cite web|url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2801867,00.html|title="货币战争"：忽悠中的担忧|work=dw-world.de}}[http://www.ylib.com/hotsale/Money_War/index.htm "Exposing international financial insider power rivalry ..." (opening line; translated from Chinese by Google)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824072101/http://www.ylib.com/hotsale/Money_War/index.htm |date=2011-08-24 }}, ylib.com. Also includes major section titled "Presidential Decree No. one thousand one hundred eleven 0: Kennedy's death certificate" and labelled at bottom "Excerpt from 'currency war' Chapter VII" (translated from Chinese by Google). Retrieved 2015-11-29.http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Miscellaneous-Information.aspx discuss the "Executive Order 11110" {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613021606/http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Ready-Reference/JFK-Miscellaneous-Information.aspx |date=June 13, 2011 }}

On June 4, 1963, President Kennedy signed an executive order, which, as an amendment to Executive Order 10289, delegated the authority to issue silver certificates (notes convertible to silver on demand) to the Secretary of the Treasury. Song says the direct consequence was that the Federal Reserve lost its monopoly to control money.

The book looks back at history and argues that fiat currency itself is a conspiracy; it sees in the abolition of representative currency and the installment of fiat currency a struggle between the "banking clique" and the governments of the western nations, ending in the victory of the former. It advises the Chinese government to keep a vigilant eye on China's currency and instate a representative currency.

Reception

The book has achieved bestseller status in China. Although acknowledging the book's huge popularity in China, the Financial Times described it as only passably entertaining and its thesis as far-fetched.{{Cite web

|url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c0e62134-6df3-11dc-b8ab-0000779fd2ac.html

|title= Believe it or not

|work= The Financial Times

|first= Geoff |last=Dyer

|date = 2007-09-28

|accessdate=2010-10-06}}

Fred Hu, managing director of Goldman Sachs Group, said the currency wars were "non-existent".{{cite web|url=http://news.ifeng.com/opinion/point/200712/1204_2449_335888.shtml|title=胡祖六：子虚乌有的"货币战争"_资讯_凤凰网|work=ifeng.com}} He uses in his review words as "a simple out of line, outrageous distortion", "many errors, out of context, far-fetched, exaggerated, or simply speculate, uncertain", and the conclusion to this book as a "melted mixed the ultra-left trend of thought, far-right tendencies, populism, isolationism, anarchism".[http://money.163.com/07/1221/07/407HUH1O00252BUU.html "Fred Hu batch shelling 'currency war' view special status is questioned: 2007-12-21 07:17:40 Source: Southern Metropolis Daily (Guangzhou)" (translated from Chinese by Google)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522204254/http://money.163.com/07/1221/07/407HUH1O00252BUU.html |date=2013-05-22 }}, money.163.com. The opening line reads in part: "Recently, the general manager of Goldman Sachs director, well-known economist, Mr. Hu Zuliu ... criticized the 2007 China's best-selling financial books [sic; book by Song Hongbing] 'currency war' as 'Simple outrageous, ....'" (translated from Chinese by Google). Retrieved 2015.11.29.

According to Zhang Jiayi, it could be argued that the "currency wars" series of books' goal in promoting the conspiracy theory is precisely to meet the angry psychology of youth.{{Cite web

|url= http://book.sina.com.cn/news/c/2009-08-04/0958258925.shtml

|title= Book Review: Who is against Mr Song ?

|date=2009-08-04

|publisher= sina.com.cn

|author= Zhang Jiayi}}

The book has been criticized in the New York Times for promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories.{{cite news|url= https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/china-anti-semitic-conspiracy-theories-and-wall-street/|title= China, Anti-Semitic Conspiracy Theories and Wall Street|author= Hung Huang|date=2008-10-02|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2012-02-06}} The book says that Jews have been conspiring to covertly influence historical events ranging from the Battle of Waterloo to the assassination of John F. Kennedy, with the intention of increasing their wealth and influence.{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/1,7340,L-3675560,00.html |title= Anti-Semitism makes it to China?|author=Arad, Boaz|date=2009-02-22|work=Ynetnews|accessdate=2012-02-06}} In this respect, the Orthodox Jewish press postulated that the material echoes traditional antisemitic conspiracy theories such as The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, The International Jew, and Nazi propaganda like Der Stürmer.,{{cite web |url=http://www.vosizneias.com/27746/2009/02/22/china-the-jewish-myths-of-asia-anti-semitism/ |title= China - The Jewish Myths of Asia - Anti-Semitism?|work=Vos Iz Neias?|first=Ian|last=Buruma| authorlink = Ian Buruma |date=2009-02-22|accessdate=2012-02-06}} although this interpretation has been considered unfair by some Chinese journalists who claim the allegations made in the text are true and that China generally has no history of antisemitism.{{cite news |last1=Li |first1=Bibo |title="Huòbì Zhànzhēng": Zhōngguó bǎn de "yīnmóu lùn"? (《货币战争》：中国版的"阴谋论"？) |url=http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001014472?full=y&archive |access-date=17 February 2022 |agency=The Financial Times Chinese |date=September 9, 2007}}

Several Chinese-American scholars also gave the first book negative reviews. Chen Zhiwu (Yale University) affirmed the reference values of the details the book provided, such as "what the Rothschild family did, how impacts the financial sector has on a country's development, etc".{{Citation needed|reason=Missing a source for this quote|date=December 2022}} However, he finds the author, by that time the structured finance department manager of Hong Yuan securities,{{cite web|url=http://www.hysec.com/hyzq/zjhy/service/hyyj.jsp|title=List of experts in Hong Yuan Securities|accessdate=2012-02-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624011227/http://www.hysec.com/hyzq/zjhy/service/hyyj.jsp|archive-date=2013-06-24|url-status=dead}} lacks financial expertise to be qualified to prescribe China with future directions. Zhang Xin (University of Toledo/Ohio) finds the book rich in historical knowledge, of which many he would not be able to analyse, but as a currency and financial system researcher, he believes the framework of the book is completely wrong and criticizes the book as lacking in "common sense".{{Citation needed|reason=Missing a source for this quote|date=December 2022}}

The author responded to these comments by saying "While many scholars have voiced their objections to this book, they are aimed at the details of the book, not its logic or structure."[https://web.archive.org/web/20091215150542/http://www1.voanews.com/chinese/news/a-21-w2007-10-04-voa2-63073247.html "US scholars have questioned the Chinese best-selling book 'Currency War'" (translated from Chinese by Google)], voanews.com, October 4, 2007. Retrieved 2015-11-29.

Sequels

In July 2009, the book was followed by a sequel, Currency Wars 2: World of Gold Privilege ({{zh|c=货币战争2：金权天下}}), published by China Industry and Commerce Publishing House ({{ISBN|978-9573265214}}),{{Cite news| url=http://beijingtoday.com.cn/2009/08/pulling-strings-world-economy/

| work = Beijing Today

| title = Pulling the strings of the world economy

| author = Jin Zhu

| date = 2009-08-20}}

which the Financial Times reported as being one of the most popular books in China by late 2009.{{Cite news

|url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/671a76ec-a950-11de-9b7f-00144feabdc0.html

|title= The dragon stirs

|work= The Financial Times

|author= Dyer, Geoff

|date = 2009-09-24

|accessdate=2010-10-06}}

More than two million copies have been sold. In this book, Song predicted that by 2024, the world's single currency system will mature. He believes that if China cannot be dominant in this system, it should not participate, but should be self-reliant, have their own sphere of financial influence.[http://book.sina.com.cn/news/c/2009-07-29/1641258770.shtml book.sina.com.cn], July 29, 2009.

In May 2011, a second sequel, Currency Wars 3: Financial High Frontier ({{zh|c=货币战争3：金融高边疆}}), was published by Yuan-Liou Publishing ({{ISBN|978-9573267843}}). It discusses more specifically modern Chinese history, from Chiang Kai-shek to the depreciation trend of the U.S. dollar in the long term, seen from a currency war perspective. It pushes towards an isolationist financial policy.