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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 28, 1983)
Monday, March 28,1983/The Battalion/Page 7 itrong U.S. dollar ailed ’disruptive’ United Press International JEW YORK — The U.S. dol ls the refuge currency of the Id, but most experts believe high value and the recent ttility in exchange rates have ome a disruptive influence world economies. The dollar should not be wed to shoot off into outer ce each time there is a new homic, financial or political icksomewhere in the world,” l Scott Pardee, executive vice sident at Discount Corp. of w York. There are two reasons cited experts for the dollar’s ngth on foreign exchange rkets where multi-million lar trades determine a cur- icy’svalue—uncertainty over rest rates and political and inomic unrest abroad. u>to by CaihySo, I “The U.S. has become the lancial refuge of the world,” djames Sinclair, who heads a >r the Sp«i Iding firm bearing his name, he state iHist compare our situation to Conroe, fywhere in the world, includ- Europe. We’re politically and econo- : mically sound, we have a strong defense and our Treasury has benefitted from foreign money pouring in from troubled coun tries,” he said. Interest rates also play a ma jor role in foreign exchange operations. “Interest rates have a con tinuous influence on exchange rates and on market expecta tions,” Pardee told the Forex Club meeting in the Nether lands last week. “Unfortunately, both interest rates and exchange rates have been exceedingly volatile.” The bouncing of rates in part reflects Federal Reserve Board policy since late 1979 and con tinuing uncertainty over their future intentions. Gary Schlossberg, foreign ex change economist at Wells Far go Bank of San Francisco, said despite substantially lower rates there is some uncertainty about the outlook and the feeling that at least for the near-term they might back up a bit. Pardee, who was manager of foreign exchange operations at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before joining Dis count Corp., said the dollar’s re cent volatility against major trading currencies has been ex ceedingly disruptive. “The exchange rate is an im portant variable around which many economic decisions are made: production, employ ment, income, prices at home and abroad,” Pardee said. If ex change rates are not in equilib rium, serious distortions can occur. “It’s almost unpatriotic to say that the dollar is overvalued, but its continued strength has caused our market share of world trade to shrink,” Schloss berg said. “This is not only erod ing profits of our manufactur ers, but costing U.S. jobs as well.” Pardee said many factors in fluence exchange markets, but the volatility is due in large part to the non-intervention policy of the U.S. Treasury since 1981, which he believes has reduced cooperation among major cen tral banks. EPA report changes argued United Press International EL PASO — Former acting Environmental Protection Agency Director John Hernan dez said his records indicate changes in a controversial pollu tion report were made nearly three weeks before he joined the agency May 20, 1981, a news paper reported Saturday. The report named Dow Che mical Co. of Midland, Mich., as the primary source of dioxin in two Michigan rivers and one lake. The report was at the heart of the controversy which led to Hernandez’ resignation Friday at the request of President Reagan. In a copyright story in Satur day’s El Paso Times, Hernandez said his own records showed changes in the draft report from the Chicago regional EPA office to Washington were made at the agency’s headquarters on May 1, 1981. Hernandez, who took over as acting director March 7 after Anne Burford’s resignation as chief of the agency, said the changes also were made before Dow officials saw the report. “Somebody’s got to put that into perspective,” he said. “Vir tually all of those changes were done before Dow ever saw it, or I ever saw it.” He said he had been unaware of the report’s exist ence until a Canadian newspap er published it June 18, 1981. The former New Mexico State Ur.lversity engineering dean said he had tried to quit the EPA off and on since Burford resigned, but President Reagan originally asked him to stay on until a new administrator could be named. ax may end e tas price dip s mother, B louston, who sited her dau(i :1 officials hi lir of itering the said the two is. United Press International —Gasoline can be bought for s than $l-a-gallon in many tes, a survey showed Satur- n . ^ bitt a steady drop in prices .| ip ' (fi J 1 likely be cut short April 1 en the new 5 cent tax increase gins. 1 Saturday tk iiinie, and ■ preparing!* The tax increase was enacted Congress late last year as part Reagan’s jobs-creating prog- n funding improvements in lor Strickfandi ids, bridges and mass transit items. George Pastor, executive di- tor of Northern Ohio Pet- Retailers Association, d the federal tax will be pas- on to customers by dealers nssthe nation because they’re it practically at cost or at a mg to sene meals, andfij depending' it," Lorenz ettv traumatic thes mavjusM for a davorw snow. “They’re ■aid Hofstai tightening their Its so tight they’re selling at irad Ilofstadw 7 dose to cost now,” he said also would h ^ey were to absorb that 5 i nts they d go out ot business. ,elo,„iellw. )w J n|d fc 100000 dea|ers rossthe nation absorb the $5.5 lion in taxes that’s going to se?” Self-service regular gasoline n now be purchased for 89 cents-a-gallon in Houston and 89.9 cents in Arizona and in the low-to mid-80s in California. Other states where gasoline can be found for less than $ 1 include Georgia, Massachusetts, Michi gan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, New York, Oklaho ma, Rhode Island, South Caroli na, West Virginia and Wyoming. One Arco station in San Fran cisco was selling regular gasoline at 96 cents-a-gallon. The owner said he was making only about a 2 cent-per-gallon profit but had a big business. In addition to paying the new nickel-a-gallon federal tax, West Virginia motorists will pay another 4.7 cents to 4.9 cents-a- gallon state tax. A Chicago Motor Club spokesman said dealers will deal with the tax increase in different ways. “They are not required to pass the tax along. Some dealers may increase prices by 5-cents. Some may not raise prices at all. Some may fall in between (raise the pump price from 1 cent to 5 cents),” he said. A0- A. O' \ V 4® \Y PRE-INVENTORY Framing as low as $ 23 81 FIRST QUALITY BOOTS 20-50% OFF Wtangler BOOT CUT JEANS your choice of Metal or Wood Frame Frtmwig 923 Texas 775-9292 Lay-a-way now for graduation Limited quantities after April 15th. FAMOUS MAKER SHIRTS MEN’S & LADIES REGULARLY $21.95-$51.95 able in all styles’ Extra Nice One of our extras is SOFT AND CUDDLY. 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