Insight for Sunday 19 December 2010

The United States' recent decision to print hundreds of billions of new dollars was designed to kick-start the world's biggest economy.

It has also sparked fears of a global currency war, as Asian countries look for ways of lowering their currencies, which have soared against the plummeting Greenback.

The New Zealand dollar's surged against the US currency, but policy-makers here seem reluctant to act to clip the flying Kiwi's wings.

Economics correspondent, Nigel Stirling, looks at what's holding them back, and if anything can be done to avoid becoming collatoral damage in a global currency war.