Get rich quick scheme of the day: Travel back in time to 2005 with sacks full of Benjamins, exchange them for renminbi, and presto-money-changeo, you're rich! "The renminbi (RMB), China's official currency, set a new high for the second day to a ratio of 6.4536 yuan per US dollar on Thursday. It indicates a 22-percent increase after the country launched exchange reforms on July 21, 2005. The ratio was 8.11 yuan per US dollar when the reforms were launched six years ago. China abandoned a decade-old peg to the US dollar by allowing its currency to fluctuate against a basket of currencies on July 21, 2005. The reforms were suspended in a bid to fight the global downturn in 2008. The yuan exchange rate again was pegged to the dollar at a ratio around 6.83 from September 2008. The peg was lifted on June 19, 2010, when the central bank announced further yuan exchange rate formation mechanisms." [China Daily] more ›

Transcript of remarks as prepared for delivery by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made at the G20 conference in Nanjing earlier today, via WSJ / China Real Time:

I welcome this seminar on reform of the international monetary system. This is a good time to assess the strengths and limitations of the current system, because the world economy is going through very substantial changes. more ›

According to the Economist and their handy chart, you can't get a Big Mac cheaper anywhere else. While in the U.S., a Big Mac costs around $3.71, one could get the same sized burger here at a McDonalds for just $2.18. Which could mean, as the Economist argues, that "[the yuan] is undervalued by about 40%." Of course, the simplicity of the Big Mac index doesn't take into account things like the fact that you could get a jianbing for 2.50 yuan instead, which is five times cheaper than the famous McD burger. I'd bet that influences the prices of fast food greatly. Honestly, does the index work for any country where over half their residents are still operating under third-world conditions? more ›

Chinese premier leaves Beijing for European tour [Xinhua] more ›