Strong views on weak dollars

ONE MORE THING:When Ryanair chairman and leading financier David Bonderman speaks, we should all sit up and take notice.

Earlier this week, the well-respected head of private equity firm TPG slammed the declining value of the dollar.

"The US has adopted unbelievably foolish policies," Bonderman was quoted by the Financial Times as telling a private equity conference in Dubai. "We are heading in the direction where we will get to one dollar equalling one yen."

You would currently get about 112 yen for your dollar so it won't happen anytime soon but you get his drift.

Bonderman's sentiments would be echoed by many Irish exporters selling into the US market. It's a tough job given the high costs of manufacturing here. Waterford Wedgwood is a classic example.

There is a view that George Bush is sanguine about the dollar's current weakness on the basis that it significantly benefits US exports.

We wonder what Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary made of his chairman's comments in the Middle East? The dollar's weakness has helped to soften the blow for Ryanair and other European airlines of soaring oil prices.

With no sign of a significant drop in the price of a barrel of oil, we imagine that O'Leary is happy for the dollar to remain weak for a while longer.