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Explains why, with Asian currencies held steady, the euro is bearing the brunt of the U.S. dollar's fall. The euro's rise to record heights; Performance of other world currencies, including the Chinese yen; How U.S. policymakers have abandoned a strong-dollar policy in order to boost exports and sustain growth; Japan's manipulation of the yen-dollar rate; View that the euro's rise will do little to correct the trade gap; Focus on the issue at the February 2004 meeting of Europe's G-7 finance ministers.

The article observes that 8.3 and 1.19, 4 and 0.4, 175 and 1,639 are very powerful numbers. If in coming months any of them changes drastically, the world will change: 8.3 is how many Chinese renminbi can be purchased with $1 U.S.; 1.19 is the number of U.S. dollars needed to buy 1 euro; 4 percent is the projected rate of growth of the U.S. economy this year, while 0.4 is how much Europe will probably grow this year; 175 is the millions of dollars U.S. President George W. Bush already has available to fund his re-election campaign; 1,639 is the number of U.S. soldiers killed and wounded in Iraq since Bush announced the end of major combat in May. These are important numbers because each summarizes a trend with global consequences. The transatlantic relationship is not good--and the combination of a strong euro and the U.S. electoral campaign will not improve it. There are many frictions, resentments and misunderstandings, among them the Iraq war and trade.