Daily Inspiration Quote by John W. Snow

That sentence is the Washington equivalent of stepping to a microphone and carefully not stepping into traffic. John W. Snow isn’t offering an economic insight so much as performing a ritual: the Treasury secretary’s practiced refusal to talk about the dollar in a way that could move markets, embarrass the White House, or box in policy.

The intent is defensive and procedural. Currency talk is uniquely combustible because it turns language into policy; a hint of preference can shift expectations, and expectations can shift capital flows. So Snow frames silence as “a practice,” not a choice. That’s bureaucratic judo: it depersonalizes the evasion, suggesting discipline rather than fear, professionalism rather than evasiveness.

The subtext is louder than the words. By naming “the relative exchange value of our currency” in such technocratic, padded phrasing, he signals to insiders that he understands exactly what you’re asking while denying you the usable quote. It’s also a nod to the long-running U.S. posture of strategic ambiguity: unofficially caring a great deal about the dollar’s level while officially acting as though it’s not a political object.

Context matters: Snow served in the early 2000s, a period of trade anxieties, deficits, and growing scrutiny of currency policy. His line is a preemptive firewall against becoming the headline that traders and foreign governments interpret as a shift. It works because it’s not merely noncommittal; it’s a reminder that in finance, even “no comment” is a comment, and the job is to make it as inert as possible.