Mike Whitney ruminates over what the Fed intends to do in the near-future and what effects its actions will have on the world economy in the short-term. I then identify a few depressing consequences that can be inferred from Whitney’s analysis.

China’s aggression in September after Japan seized a Chinese fisherman near the East China Sea islands claimed by both countries confirmed China as a burly international tyrant. The caution for countries attempting to negotiate with China is to avoid Japan’s mistake, which was single-handedly contesting the giant. For America, that means seeking an end to China’s currency manipulation by simultaneously pursuing every option the United States has, including formally naming China a currency manipulator, imposing tariffs on imports from countries that undervalue currency and creating a community of allies to campaign together to combat the illegal trade practice.

Cross-posted at River Twice Research.

So bipartisanship isn’t dead. By a vote of 348-79, Democrats and Republicans alike put aside their acrimonious differences and agreed, at least for a moment, to stop blaming each other for the sad state of American economic life. Instead, they agreed to blame China.

The bill authorizes the president of the United States to impose tariffs on Chinese goods in response to what it considers an illegal subsidy of Chinese exports in the form of an undervalued currency. It helps that the supporters in the House know that this bill has precious little chance of becoming law; it will not pass the Senate and it is unlikely that it would be signed into law by Obama if it ever came to that. As a result, the bill is the perfect campaign gesture, bombastic, angry, self-righteous, and without much real-world consequence.

This story originally appeared at TomDispatch.com.

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The year 2009 was a bad one for the United States. And no, I’m not talking about unemployment, or poverty, or home foreclosures, or banks too-big-to-fail, or any of the other normal bad news. I’m talking about something serious. As the world’s leading maker of things that go bang in the night (and I don’t mean Hollywood films), we took a hit last year. A big one.

China illegally subsidizes its export industries and unlawfully manipulates its currency. That kills U.S. industry and destroys U.S. jobs. On June 19, China announced it would allow its currency value to rise on international markets. And then it didn’t. That’s flipping the bird at America. Before China’s June 19 promise, U.S. Senators and Congressmen proposed legislation that would force the U.S. Treasury Department to even the score with China. Pass the legislation. It’s time for America to flip the bird back.

90 Second Summaries, a project of Main Street Insider. Today we summarize H.R. 2378, the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, which is being discussed in the Ways & Means Committee today and tomorrow.

How is it that America finds herself in the position of schoolyard patsy, woe-is-me victim of China’s illegal trade practices that are destroying U.S. renewable energy manufacturing and foreclosing an energy-independent future? Come on, America. Stand up for yourself. Tell China that America isn’t going to hand over its lunch money anymore; international trade law will be enforced now. That’s the demand the United Steelworkers union made this week when it filed suit detailing how China violates a wide variety of World Trade Organization obligations.

Discussion of Alyssa Ayres, new appointment in the State Department, in the area of India policy, with a focus on globalization.

Continuing my series about what caused our economic collapse, when it actually began, and why the “Recovery” will remain a jobless recovery until we reverse the effects of Free Trade and the outsourcing of jobs by America companies, allow me to present Exhibit A: Apple, Inc.