Euro Reaches 6-Week High Against US Dollar

Terrible economic news last week had the euro end Friday up against the US dollar to its highest level in 6 weeks.

The US economy lost 125,000 jobs in June, the first monthly drop in six months, and combined with other bad economic news, has investors and consumers concerned over whether or not we're in a recovery at all, or the huge amount of money thrown at the economy only masked its inherent weaknesses.

The euro rose to $1.2553 in afternoon trading in New York from $1.2480 late Thursday. Right after the Labor Department said that 125,000 jobs were lost in June in the U.S., the euro topped off at $1.2613, its highest level since May 21.

While some have interpreted this as a nod toward avoiding the worst in Europe, it's highly doubtful that's the case, and there's a lot to play out there before we're through.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel Blasts Use of "Cheap Money" for Economic Management

Although German chancellor Angela Merkel and the German government has implemented a fiscal stimulus plan, it was an extremely modest €12bn over the next two years. While that was probably a mistake, at least Merkel understands that creating money from thin air won't do a thing to take care of the problem they're in.

Merkel and the German government have been coming under increased pressure to contribute to a huge stimulus in relationship to the European Union; now standing at €200 billion. That would be about 1.2 percent of GDP of the 27 member states.

Talking about the contribution of the drop in value of the U.S. dollar to the current global economic crisis, Merkel stated to the German parliament:

“Excessively cheap money in the US was a driver of today’s crisis. I am deeply concerned about whether we are now reinforcing this trend through measures being adopted in the US and elsewhere and whether we could find ourselves in five years facing the exact same crisis.”

Some analysts assert the action wouldn't do much to change the economic crisis anytime soon. They're of course right, as is Merkel.

History has proven that the utter stupidity of the New Deal did more to create the Great Depression in the U.S. than anything else. Printing money, devaluing currency, and generating inflation is never an answer to an economic crisis.

The best thing to do is let it play out and allow the market correct itself. That cleans out the bad businesses and leadership, and makes the free market much stronger.

Throwing money at poorly run companies does nothing but reinforce poor management and keeps the real problems from being solved. Government interference in what would have been a short period of economic struggle created the infamous Great Depression in the U.S. We don't need to do the same and create a worldwide one.