There might be some currency manipulation, but it is not the 600% difference that would be required, plus we probably get an equal amount of benefit by being the reserve currency.
It's cheaper to live in China than the USA because Americans expect that they will have a salary + medical benefits that will allow them to afford a 3 bedroom house of their own in the suburbs built to rather more exacting construction standards than China, 2 cars which they drive 20k miles/year, a family vacation every year, medical prices that cover the cost of doctors purchase insurance to protect against litigious Americans' expensive lawsuits, and pay taxes that support large social programs and one of the world's largest standing Armies. Prices for American workers and goods reflect these expectations.
It's a lot easier to live cheaply when your expectations of housing are a concrete room (shared by a number of friends if you are single), no car, no overseas vacations via plane, medical care provided by the state, and a system where doctors are not at risk of multi-million dollar court cases if they get something wrong.
It's cheaper to live in China than the USA because Americans expect that they will have a salary + medical benefits that will allow them to afford a 3 bedroom house of their own in the suburbs built to rather more exacting construction standards than China, 2 cars which they drive 20k miles/year, a family vacation every year, medical prices that cover the cost of doctors purchase insurance to protect against litigious Americans' expensive lawsuits, and pay taxes that support large social programs and one of the world's largest standing Armies. Prices for American workers and goods reflect these expectations.
It's a lot easier to live cheaply when your expectations of housing are a concrete room (shared by a number of friends if you are single), no car, no overseas vacations via plane, medical care provided by the state, and a system where doctors are not at risk of multi-million dollar court cases if they get something wrong.