The world’s strongest currency is also super-competitive 

AMID all the talk about whether the United States is keen to devalue the mighty dollar as one way to revive American manufacturing, it is worth noting that the dollar is not the world’s strongest currency and has not been for decades. That title goes to the Swiss franc, and the mighty franc has done nothing to undermine Switzerland’s competitiveness.

The world’s richest major economy has both a strong currency and a strong manufacturing base. The Swiss franc has been the top-performing currency over the past 50 years, 25 years, 10 years and five years. It is near the top even over the past year when some of the more beleaguered currencies have staged a comeback against the dollar. Nothing can compare for durable strength. 

Historic highs

Yet, Switzerland also defies the assumption that a strong currency will undermine a nation’s trading prowess by making its exports uncompetitive. Its exports have risen and are near historic highs both as a share of Swiss gross domestic product (75 per cent), and as a share of global exports (near 2 per cent).