...Accession into a monetary union has implications that reach far below the surface of the requirements outlined by a simple agreement or membership criteria. While there are undeniable benefits to some member states, great sacrifices must be made before, during, and after the integration process which eventually render a nation powerless over its monetary policy. Currently, every European nation is faced with the question of whether to join European Monetary Union; however, the eagerness with which new member states join is paralleled by the resistance of several holdouts to adoption of the common currency. With the unprecedented growth rate of the Euro-zone over the past decade and the number of nations currently making the required policy adjustments, core members need to be aware of the motivating factors fueling the growth in the number of new member states. The European Union is experiencing an adverse selection scenario in which nations seeking increased stability are willing to make the sacrifices that membership entails while the redistributive effect of wealth from existing to new relatively poorer member states is an implicit benefit of the current system. When Paul Henri Spaak of Belgium, Christian Pineau of France, Joseph Luns of the Netherlands, Antonion Segni from Italy, Joseph Bech from Luxemburg, and Konrad Adenauer from the Republic of Germany signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957 creating the European Economic Community(EEC), their long-term objective was the...
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...analyse the current state of the European Monetary Union. The European Monetary Union or the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) is the successor to its predecessor: The European Monetary System, and attempts to deliver an economic system which is unified and cohesive for all the members of the European Union. Perhaps the most notable and drastic change implemented under this systematic collection of policies is the adoption of the Euro currency over the national currencies of the member states out of which only the United Kingdom and Denmark have chosen to not follow in the footsteps of their fellow member countries. The European Monetary Union is essentially a complex but involved coordination of a common monetary policy amongst all members of the European union, accommodating fiscal and economic policies and most notably the currency common to all members, the Euro. This decision to form an exclusive and unified front was undertaken in December, of 1991, in the city of Maastricht in Netherlands and was later more firmly integrated in the Maastricht Treaty on the European Union. It has been designed as a tool to implement the full economic integration of the European Union and to complete the integration as one system, which started in 1957. Through this integration, the European Union hopes to gain the benefits of having a larger sized failsafe net, internal and cohesive efficiency combined together with the European Monetary Union, it would provide a robust and firm...
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...According Balassa (1962) there are five stages of economic integration: the free trade area, the customs union, the common market, the economic junction and the complete economic integration. The European Union is on the penultimate stage, which is the economic union. The objective of this essay is to know more about the European monetary union and other touch points that are to be the EMU, the process, countries belonging to the European Union but not part of the EMU and its reasons. Economic union is a common market that removes restrictions on trade between countries. The currency is the same and a central authority controls fiscal policies. It has a single currency and monetary policy. The objective of this stage is that members actually are formed as one nation and its features are a common fiscal common currency, harmonized tax rates, the pooling of foreign exchange reserves, and monetary policy. (Cerdeira, 2009) The EMU is a major step in the integration of the economy of the European Union. It involves the coordination of economic and fiscal policy of the same coin policies, some countries took the next step to the next stage and adopted the euro as its currency, and these countries are part of the euro area. (EC, 2014) " One Market, One Currency " is what the European Commission defined as a geographical area where the economy is a single currency and where risks can be managed and has flexibility among country. This would make cuts of a country being adversely...
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...Chapter 8 ECONOMIC INTEGRATION QUESTION 7: After a promising start, MERCOSUR, the major Latin American trade agreement, has faltered and made little progress since 2000. What problems are hurting MERCOSUR? What can be done to solve these problems? There are several reasons why Mercosur can be considered an unsuccesful trade agreement: 1. Member countries are not yet politically mature to commit to long term agreements that can be respected by the the future rulers of each country. Instead, it’s usually seen that political candidates adjust their plans to gain new voters according to the circumstances of the moment, not keeping focused on the long term. Being realistic, there is not much that can be done to change this situation. There is a little hope that country members can some time in the future take example of their neighbouring Chile, where the political parties after the dictatorial times of Pinochet (his government included), committed to pull the country out of undervelopment and have remained firm to that ideology regardless of the political beliefs of each party in power. Keep in mind that Chile is not a full member of Mercosur, just an associate one. 2. Economic difficulties some members have experienced in different moments since Mercosur was created, which has led to embrace local reforms that not always are consistent with the trade agreement; for example, by changing the “common” external tariff to protect a national industry, as has done Kirchner government...
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...Through this lens the author intends to draw comparisons between the current EMU and the Gold Standard and any implications these similarities have Introduction A prerequisite to any discussion on this topic is an understanding of certain classical and neo-classical analytical frameworks. Therefore section one will briefly present and explain the logic of Hume’s Mechanism and the ‘Impossible Trinity.’ Section Two outlines a chronological history of various exchange rate mechanisms along with their corresponding successes and failures. Section three draws parallels between the Gold Standard and the European Monetary Union and discusses the consequences of these similarities. Section One: Analytical Frameworks Hume’s Mechanism: This theory combines aspects of the purchasing power parity and interest rate parity conditions. It states that as the monetary base (M) increases domestic prices trend upwards. This induces a nation to import more goods than it exports, creating a current account deficit. This deficit gradually causes gold to leave the system, causing prices to revert back to their original levels- producing a balanced current account. This process in the goods markets is far slower than the complimentary process which occurs in the financial markets. When the money stock within the system exceeds its equilibrium level interest rates are forced downwards. This induces savers seeking higher yields to move their capital out of the domestic system and into...
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...What is a better Monetary System: Bargaining or Money? So far, every monetary system ever implemented has been problematic. For instance, money, in its various forms, has been liable to manipulation. Metal money made from precious metals may be degraded by the issuer or filed, shaved, or chipped by individuals. Paper currency makes it more difficult for individuals to alter money but is more easily manipulated by the issuer, whether central authorities of individual banks. Bargaining and money are the two principal systems that markets utilize in buying or selling of both services and goods. Notwithstanding its weaknesses, money remains a better monetary system compared to bargaining. The imposition of limiting monetary policy in a disjointed wage bargaining context where workers have considerable bargaining rights can have perverse effects. Notwithstanding the tendency of liberal economists to point labor-market rigidities arising from government regulation and active trade unions as the source of unemployment, evidence exist that the nature of macroeconomic policy can also play a role. Macroeconomic policies are essential, especially in ensuring that wage-bargaining systems are able to deliver wage moderation that is favorable to low unemployment levels (OECD, 2011, p. 328). Centralized bargaining systems only work best under an accommodating monetary policy while bargaining systems organized at the industry level works efficiently under a non-accommodating policy. Therefore...
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...FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION PUBLIC SECTOR MANAGEMENT TRAINING PROGRAMME (PSMTP) MPSM 5TH COHORT PSM 542: INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FINANCE GROUP ASSIGNMENT 1 Candidate's Reg. Numbers R118475MP – LUSITO NEEMA FERDINAND R118472MP – LIMBE RUTH COSMAS R118474MP – MATATA JIMMY AVUTIA LECTURER. MR CHARLES MAKANYEZA Due date; 15th October, 2012 Question Two Discuss the various factors that determine the exchange rate regime. Introduction This paper is an attempt to discuss various factors which determine the exchange regime in relation to the international trade. The paper will provide a brief overview of the exchange rate regimes in the international trade, define key terms. It will also explore the various types of exchange rate regime practiced in the international and finally it will delineate the main factors that determine the exchange rate regime. Overview of exchange rate in the International trade. The choice of an appropriate exchange rate regime for developing countries has been at the center of the debate in international finance for a long time. The steady increase in magnitude and variability of international capital flows has intensified the debate in the past few years as each of the major currency crises in the 1990s has in some way involved a fixed exchange rate and sudden reversal of capital inflows. While the debate...
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...|Exchange rate |Monetary Policy Framework | |arrangement (Number | | |of countries) | | | |Exchange rate anchor |Monetary aggregate|Inflation targeting framework |Other1 | | | |target | | | | |U.S. dollar (66) |Euro (27) |Composite (15) |Other(7) |(22) |(44) |(11) | |Exchange arrangement |Ecuador |Palau |Montenegro | |Kiribati | | | | | |with no separate |El Salvador |Panama |San Marino | | | | | | | |legal tender (10) |Marshall Islands |Timor-Leste ...
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...increases the risk of currency positions. 2. Why might it be hard to quantify currency risk in a target zone system or a pegged exchange rate system? Answer: If the peg or target zone holds for a long time, historical volatility appears to be zero or very limited, but this may not accurately reflect underlying tensions that may ultimately result in a devaluation or revaluation of the currency. Hence, the true currency risk does not show up in day-to-day fluctuations of the exchange rate. It is hard to quantify this “latent volatility.” 3. What is likely to be the most credible exchange rate system? Answer: Among fixed exchange rate systems, a monetary union with a common currency is likely the most credible exchange rate system. But even here, we see tensions within the Economic and Monetary Union in Europe that could lead to a breakup of the euro. The inability of Greece and the other...
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...assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a mark of zero. See page 14 of the EC100 - Economics for Business Handbook for details. Please make sure that your NAME and that of your CLASS TEACHER and CLASS NUMBER are printed clearly on the front page of your assignment. You should answer all questions in this assignment. Please write your answers CLEARLY and write within the spaces provided. CLASS TEACHER’S NAME:…………………………………………………………… (Block capitals only) CLASS NUMBER:………………………………………………………………………... YOUR NAME:……………………………………………………………………………. (Block capitals only) Answer all questions (5 marks each) Part 1 1. Distinguish between the following three types of preferential trading areas: a free trade area, a customs union, and a perfect (full) common market. There are three types of prefrential trading arrangements, a preferential trading agreement is an agreement whereby the trade between the signatories is more relaxed compared to the trade with the rest of the world. One type of trade agreement is a free trade area is a group of countries with no trade restrictions between within themselves. This is where member countries remove tariffs and quotas between themselves, however they still retain whatever restrictions each member chooses with non member countries. In some events provisons will have to be made to avoid imports coming in from countries with the...
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...treated the monetary policy of USA and Europe, what institutions they have and what the objectives are. It will be compared the first one with the second one. On the second part of this report, it will speak about the last news about raising the legal limit of USA debt and how this affects to the rest of the world. Finally, when the each monetary policy is clear, it will be given my own opinion. First of all, it should start defining what monetary policy is: Monetary policy is a central bank’s use of either the money supply and/or interest rates to influence economic activity (Froyen, Richard (2009). Macroeconomics Theories and Policies. Pearson Prentice Hall). Monetary policy is run by the Federal Reserve in the United States and by the European Central Bank (ECB) in Europe. The mean objective of the first institution is to insure price stability and full employment; meanwhile, for the second one is price stability. They are the responsible institutions for issuing Money. The ECB focus on price stability because, accordingly with this institution, it cannot control anything more. However, I do not believe that. Everything is linked and, by economics decisions (interest, taxes…), is possible to change different variables which influence, for example, the employment. Even so, it is true that the ECB have in consideration the employment and a sustainable and non-inflationary growth. The European Central Bank by fixing interest rates in the short-term, monetary policy influences...
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...CHAPTER 3 THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY SYSTEM The purpose of this chapter is to help students understand what the international monetary system is and how the choice of system affects currency values. It also provides a historical background of the international monetary system. This enables students to gain perspective when trying to interpret the likely consequences of new policies in the area of international finance. This chapter describes how exchange rates are determined under four different mechanisms--free float, managed float, fixed-rate system, and target-zone system. Under the latter three systems, governments intervene in the currency markets in one form or another to affect the exchange rate. Key Points 1. Under the latter three systems, which involve varying degrees of central bank intervention, the real exchange rate is liable to change, with important implications for exchange risk management (as discussed in Chapters 9 through 11). 2. Regardless of the form of intervention, fixed rates don't remain fixed for long. Neither do floating rates. The basic reason that exchange rates don't stay fixed for long in either a fixed- or floating-rate system is that governments subordinate exchange rate considerations to domestic political considerations. 3. The gold standard is a specific type of fixed exchange rate system, one that required participating countries to maintain the value of their currencies in terms of gold. Calls for a new gold standard...
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...Eco550 Week 3 Chapter 5 1. The forecasting staff for the Prizer Corporation has developed a model to predict sales of its air-cushioned ride snowmobiles. The model specifies that the S vary jointly with disposable personal income Y and the population between ages 15 and 40,Z, and inversely with the price of the snowmobiles P. Based on the past data, the best estimate of this relationship is S= K *YZ/P where k has been estimated (with the pst data) to equal 100. If Y=$11,000, Z= $1,200, and P=$20,000 a) what value would you predict for S? Answer: The given function is S=K*YZ/P at the given values of; k=100 Y=$11,000 Z=$1,200 P=$20,000 the value of S is: S=100(11000*1200)/20000= $66,000 so there would be a sales of $66,000 at above given values. 5. A firm experienced the demand shown in the following table. a. Fill in the table by preparing forecasts based on a five-year moving average, a three-year moving average, and exponential smoothing (with a w = 0.9 and a w = 0.3). The exponential smoothing forecasts may be begun by assuming Ŷt+1 = Yt. b. Using the forecasts from 2005 through 2009, compare the accuracy of each of the forecasting methods based on the RMSE criterion. c. Which forecast would you have used for 2010? Why? 5- year 3-Year Exponential Exponential Actual Moving Moving Smoothing Smoothing Year Demand Average Acverage (W= 0.9 ) (W= 0.3 ) 2000 800 xxxx xxxx xxxx Xxxx 2001 925 xxxx xxxx 687.5 762.5 2002 900 xxxx Xxxx...
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...impact on only a few countries and few asset classes, this time, the crisis had its effect on almost all countries in the world and all asset classes. The crisis had a contagion effect and spread far and wide without an end in sight creating more and more uncertainties day by day. When Government creates stimulus it goes to increase the government debt making the government vulnerable to financial weakness. In a few cases , where there was a government failure, investors have taken an hair cut in their investments. But in General, Sovereign debt is supposed to be more trustworthy since Central Banks can print money to lend it to the government when in need. Governments in an effort to stop economic slide, tried many measures including Monetary and Fiscal Stimulus but black swan events had overtaken the efforts of governments. Many of the developed countries printed more money and tried to stimulate the Economic Growth and reduce the unemployment. But it has gone into a spiral. The only effect is the outstanding debts of governments are going up, their credit rating is being downgraded and there was a lot of trust deficit between governments.,Banks and investors. Everybody is in a dilemma searching for solutions and immediate remedy. The effective solutions are eluding the policy makers. . According to Classical Economics, Printing money is likely to increase the demand, inflation and reduce the value of money. This is true in cases of countries where the potential for...
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...outcomes, creating winners and losers. The three fundamental elements—financial theory, global business, management beliefs and actions—combine to present either the problem or the solution to the growing debate over the benefits of globalization to countries and cultures worldwide. 3. Problem 9-1 Americo’s Earnings and the Fall of the Dollar. The dollar has experienced significant swings in value against most of the world’s currencies in recent years. a. What would be the impact on Americo’s consoli-dated EPS if all foreign currencies were to appreci-ate 20% against the U.S. dollar? 4. Labor unions. In Germany and Scandinavia, among others, labor unions have representation on boards of directors or supervisory boards. How might such union representation be viewed under the shareholder wealth maximization model compared to the corporate wealth maximization model? : Labor union...
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