SANCTIONS SCHIZOPHRENIA
Later this week, a House Financial Services Subcommittee will convene a hearing assessing the extent to which sanctions work as intended. From the Senate’s perspective, they had better – as a forthcoming in-depth report will assess, the new anti-China bill rests for its economic counterpunch on an array of tough-minded sanctions against still more Chinese entities and individuals for still more things the U.S. doesn’t like. However, HFSC isn’t the only group wondering about sanctions – even the Treasury Department is rethinking this longstanding weapon in America’s soft-power arsenal, while the Fed faces challenges to the dollar’s reserve-currency status as allies who disagree with U.S. targets look for ways to evade them.