Trading legend Dennis Gartman is one of the most influential market commentators out there. He is what we like to call here at Notes an “investor’s investor.” That is, he’s a market veteran who speaks directly to other traders and investors.

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In 2004, then Treasury Secretary John Snow was traipsing about the globe trying to “talk the dollar down.” Why? In a word: debt. At the time, our debt stood at $7 trillion, with interest payments in fiscal 2003 totaling $318 billion. But now the U.S. national debt stands above $9 trillion, with interest payments in fiscal 2007 adding $1.4 billion a day.

Ever since Robert Rubin began the tradition in the mid-1990s, it has been a significant element of the Treasury Secretary’s job description to continuously state that a strong dollar is in the national interest.

In 2004, then Treasury Secretary John Snow was traipsing about the globe trying to “talk the dollar down.” Why? In a word: debt.