The past few months have seen a rise in the US dollar. The trade-weighted index has risen from 95 in 2011 to 111 in Jan 2011. There has been a near 10% rise in the value of the dollar since July of 2014. Against the Euro, the dollar has been even stronger. One Euro was …
Readers Question: Sorry I’m really confused on how the weak oil prices affects EUR/USD currency. I’ve tried searching for articles but there are really different arguments. For EURO – Weak oil prices worsens Eurozone inflation therefore European bank ,to prevent deflation and boost economy will continue with their negative interest rates and Quantitative easing which …
Readers Question: What are the similarities and differences between the Bank of England and the ECB? Thank you They are both responsible for controlling inflation. However, this year, the Bank of England have shown much greater flexibility and willingness to consider other objectives such as full employment and preventing recession. The ECB has been much …
A carry trade occurs when an investor borrows in one country (at a low interest rate) and invests this money in another country (which has higher interest rates.) If we assume exchange rates are stable, then this carry trade enables an investor to make a profit – and the profit could be even more if …
Currency wars are said to occur when countries seek to devalue their currency to gain a competitive advantage. However, if one country seeks to become more competitive through devaluation, it means other countries become less competitive. Therefore, they may respond by weakening their currency too. Thus, we may get a situation of competitive devaluation where …
Readers Question: After the insightful post on ‘Italian Economic Decline’, I was particularly captured by the % debt to GDP line graph of the different developed countries. The one thing that really caught my eye was Japan’s huge % debt to GDP and yet their government bond yields are consistently declining. Aren’t the markets worried …
The money supply is the amount of money in circulation measured by narrow money (MO) and broad money (M4). The money supply can rise if Central Banks print more money. Banks choose to hold a lower liquidity ratio. This means banks will be willing to lend a larger proportion of their funds. An inflow of …
Definition: Aid involves economic assistance from one country to another. Usually, aid refers to assistance from the developed world to LDCs – less developed countries Aid can take various forms: Debt Relief – Forgiving debt can save LDCs annual interest payments and leave them more resources for internal investment Direct AID- giving food, money and …