How a financial crisis morphs into a currency war

"In a synchronized global economic downturn, the temptation for policy makers is to view economic growth as a zero-sum game and to take policies that, while favourable to domestic constituents, end up ‘stealing’ growth from elsewhere. The thinking goes: "If I can’t get the economy to grow quickly, I’ll have to depend on exports to do the heavy lifting until things stabilise." But what’s good for the goose is good for the gander and once we head down the path of today’s neologisms of quantitative easing, fiscal austerity, and competitive currency devaluations, the die is cast; there will be no domestic growth except that which comes at the expense of others..."