Dollar's Rise Is Good News For The U.S., For Now

If you've traveled outside the U.S. recently, or sent your U.S.-made products abroad, you've probably noticed that the dollar is getting stronger. The stronger dollar is the sign of a healthier U.S. economy, but its strength has the potential to erode growth.

There are a number of factors behind the dollar's rise, says economist Jens Nordvig, a currency expert at Nomura Securities. The main one is the health of the U.S. economy.

"When you compare the U.S. economy to the rest of the world, you really have a situation where there's a pretty dramatic outperformance of U.S. growth relative to European growth, Japanese growth, or global growth in general," Nordvig says.

But Simon Johnson, former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, emphasizes that the dollar's climb is relative. The dollar is being measured against the currencies of other countries.

[link:http://www.npr.org/2015/01/14/377199251/dollars-rise-is-good-news-for-the-u-s-for-now|