the depreciated value of the dollar’s real effective exchange rate
associated with the large U.S. trade deficit we have underscored two arguments, one related
to the measurement of the real effective exchange rate and the other related to fundamental
factors affecting its value. With regard to measurement, the change in the composition of
U.S. trading partners towards low-price producers may imply that traditional real effective
exchange rate indices will overstate the decline in the dollar, because they do not incorporate
the declining average prices in trading partners. With regard to the fundamentals affecting the
dollar’s real effective exchange rate, the significant deterioration in the terms of trade driven
by the commodity price boom is an important factor in explaining the co-existence of a
depreciated value of the dollar and a large trade deficit