Peter Cohn's  Instablog

I decided to write a few short paragraphs about a question I've been musing about this entire week as Congress fails again and again to get their act together and as the USD keeps dropping against other currencies.

I just want to get your opinions and to build awareness about this.

That question is:  Is it unpatriotic and detrimental to American as a whole and in the long run, to continuously bet and profit against the USD?

I'm a currency trader at a hedge fund.  I have been short against the USD on many many occasions and have actually made more money betting the USD was going to fall than it was going to rise.  However, unlike shorting Verizon for example where instead of absolutely betting that an American company will fall, you're betting that an American company will most likely fall against another domestic competitor, such as AT&T or Sprint.  Trading currencies, on the other hand, is entirely different.  It is a macro mentality.  When you place a trade speculating that the USD will drop in value when you make the closing trade, you inevitably MUST do 2 things:

1) Be pessimistic about the American economy, our administration, our policies, our domestic producers, our consumers, etc...  

2) Cross your fingers and HOPE that the USD falls because now you invested your own money into this bet.  

So you're essentially HOPING that the American economy drops so you can profit off this trade.

From a moral and philosophical standpoint, Is this unpatriotic?  From an economic standpoint, is this healthy in the long run for America?