Showing papers on "Currency published in 1970"

De-monetisation, inflation and coffee: the demand for money in Uganda

Abstract: This paper investigates the recent macroeconomic history of Uganda using time series models for the demand for the three main monetary aggregates. A collapse of income and high inflation led to de-monetisation. The flight from currency and demand deposits was limited by their use for transactions, but demand for time and savings deposits was largely a function of inflation. The role of the exchange rate and the price of coffee in determining an asset demand for money was mixed. Re-monetisation since the late 1980s has been slower than de-monetisation.

On Money and Magic

Abstract: “The Bank will strengthen management of the virtual currencies used in online games and will stay on the lookout for any assault by such virtual currencies on the real economic and financial order.” When the world first heard of virtual currencies in the early years of this century, some speculated that there might be a future blending of economy between the real and the virtual. That future came sooner than expected; the statement above was issued by the Bank of China in February 2007, in reaction to a genuine monetary shock produced by the virtual currency QQ Coins.

The Evolution of African Monetary Institutions

Abstract: The 55 countries and territories of Africa can be classified today from the monetary point of view into six major groups. Of these, four are monetary areas based on the currency of the former or actual metropolitan country: the French franc, the pound sterling, the Portuguese escudo, and the Spanish peseta. The sterling area includes the area of the South African rand; and finally there is a group of independent countries, some with very new central banks and others with a longer tradition of monetary independence.

Anchoring to the Euro (and Grouped Together)? The Case of African Countries

Abstract: This paper assesses the adequacy of the exchange rate regime of 16 African countries that are pegged to the euro since 1999. The evaluation is based on three key criteria borrowed from the optimal currency area literature. A first conclusion is that the peg to the euro has granted the 16 countries a good inflation performance. However, with the clear exception of Cape Verde, the peg is not supported by the other economic requirements, namely trade integration and synchronisation of business cycles. We also assess whether the US dollar would be a better currency to anchor. Since the results are ambiguous, pegging to the euro seems to be a better alternative as these countries benefit from established exchange rate cooperation agreements. Given that most of the countries in the sample are historically grouped together in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) or the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC), the paper further assesses whether the grouping of countries in these two CFA monetary unions receives economic support. The conclusion is that the composition of CAEMC does not conform to basic requirements. In contrast, for a wide group of WAEMU countries there is room for sharing a common monetary policy.

The European economy 1609–50

Abstract: This chapter covers a similar reversal in the economic history of Europe. In the chapter, the varying crisis in different sectors-population; money, prices and wages; trade and production-must claim attention in turn, through at least some thirty years of European war, with its inevitable wastages and destruction. The problems of population growth in the early seventeenth century, perhaps typically of pre-industrial economies, remained fundamental to economic activity. Spain had attracted the attention of the great financial entrepreneurs, who found through Spain the required opening into both the bullion markets of Europe and the trade with the New World. In Germany, the governments also tampered with the currency during the Kipper- und Wipperzeit, a spell of monetary debasements and coin clipping which shook the country at the outbreak of the Thirty Years War. The capital assets threatened by difficult conditions again found relief in the great companies, armed to seize the initiative and win outstanding profits.

Currencies and Capitalisms on the Internet

Abstract: The internet is a particularly vibrant arena of economical development and transformation, because it brings together producers, distributors and consumers in a highly efficient manner. By doing so, it enables the exploration of innovative concepts without having to build costly new facilities. Thus the internet has become a living lab, which is used by people all over the world for creating and developing new economical forms. Anthropology offers a rich tradition for studying processes of production, distribution and consumption. In addition, anthropological studies on money offer interesting insights for thinking about uses of currencies on the internet. New forms of economical interaction create new kinds of currencies and money is multiplying on the internet. The aim of this paper is to outline some questions that can be raised by anthropological studies on economical forms and uses of currency. In order to understand virtual economies we need to think of what “the economy” actually means. Well-known economical forms are being replicated on the internet, but other kinds of economies are also being created that raise the question of how useful the mainstream idea of the economy is for studying them. Virtual economies often promote self-realization and creativity that have less to do with money than with being part of a vibrant community of people.

Endogenous Optimal Currency Areas: the Case of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community

Abstract: The Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC) has been a monetary union for several decades now. According to the hypothesis of endogenous optimal currency areas (OCAs), the degree of business cycle synchronisation across its member states should be significantly higher today than forty years ago. This paper examines cycle synchronisation along three different statistical dimensions and shows that (i) synchronisation has remained low throughout the period 1960–2007, but (ii) it has marginally increased over time. These findings have important implications for the design of the economic integration process in Africa. A chronology of business cycles in CAEMC countries is provided.

Cross Country Inflation Evidence on the Moneyness of Time Deposits

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter presents a cross-country inflation evidence of the moneyness of time deposits. A large increase in the money supply of a fully, or nearly fully, employed economy will cause inflation. This suggests a way of testing whether a near-money asset, say time deposits, should be included in empirical definitions of the money supply. The chapter presents two economies that have been similar over a period of years except that one has undergone a substantially larger increase in time deposits than the other. If time deposits belong in the money supply, then the one economy should experience greater inflation than the other. The analysis presented in this chapter implements a more operational version of this idea, using long-run, cross-country data. A technique described in the chapter has been suggested for estimating the weights of assets included in the definition of money; and the technique has been applied to cross-country inflation data. Given the crudeness of the method, the collinearity problem, and the shortcomings of the data, the results represent a small bit of evidence. Nonetheless, the evidence indicates that savings and time deposits are better left out of the definition of money than included equally with currency and demand deposits.

Mughal Silver Currency—a Critique:

Abstract: In her paper, &dquo;The Silver Currency Output of the Mughal Empire and Prices in India During the 16th and 17th Centuries,&dquo;’ Miss Aziza Hasan has constructed a silver currency in circulation curve based on the number of Mughal silver coins found relating to each year. She has attempted to link this, on the one hand with the influx of treasure into Spain, and on the other, with changes in prices in Mughal India. In the first section we shall critically examine the sources of silver supply into India during the period, highlighting both the weaknessses of the figures of Hamilton, and the importance of non-European sources of silver. In the second section, Miss Hasan’s &dquo;silver currency in circulation&dquo; estimates will be subjected to scrutiny and her data on prices will be re-evaluated. Finally, we shall try to show that Miss Hasan has not really been able to establish her main hypotheses, largely due to her failure to take into account a number of important factors and to realise the weaknesses of many of her assumptions.

Nonoptimality of Money

Abstract: According to regional scientists "the choice of a particular set of regions and boundaries depends on the particular problem to be examined"13 Similarly, the choice of optimum territories in the sense discussed above depends on the type of change in national sovereignty contemplated "Currency Area" formation involves primarily the surrender of some freedom to pursue monetary and fiscal stabilization policies "Free Trade Areas" require surrender of the right to erect barriers to free trade among members, while "Common Markets" involve the additional surrender of the right to restrict factor movements and to the choice of taxation and public expenditure patterns The choice of optimum patterns of regional associations of these types can be undertaken using the same general methodology that was developed for the choice of optimum currency areas While the existing theory of economic integration concentrates on output effects, there is little doubt that the implications of integration for employment and price stability and economic independence should be considered also For example, during the late 1960s members of the EEC encountered divergent tastes about rates of inflation and public expenditures in agriculture The resultant compromises involved losses of welfare which must be weighted against output gains in any welfare calculus of the total effect of integration

International average prices and comparisons of national aggregate production of agriculture

Abstract: “The whole question of making inter-spatial comparisons between countries is a most complicated and hazardous business” (Mr. Campion); international comparisons of a particular value aggregate between countries present a difficult problem connected with the conversion of national value aggregates into a comparable magnitude. This paper presents an alternative approach in that an internationally comparable value aggregate for each country is prepared by the international average prices of commodities which are determined simultaneously with the partial exchange rates of national currencies to a standard currency. The calculated partial exchange rates are so defined as to reflect the purchasing power of national currencies in respect of the group of commodities selected. Consequently, the resulting value aggregate for international comparison has a quantity dimension, eliminating the effect due to the different purchasing power of national currencies in which original prices are quoted. The other methods of international comparison so far being used by other research workers, such as C. Clerk and M. Gilbert and his associates, are examined in the light of the properties of the present method and the crucial differences are delineated. Using the method proposed, an international comparison is made of the aggregate value of agricultural products for 11 selected countries in the world, with sub-divisions into two regions.

An Estimation of the Extent of Over¬valuation of the Domestic Currency in Pakistan at the Official Rate of Exchange, 1948/49—1964/65

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is mainly two-fold: to exaniine some methodological issues involved in estimating the rate of overvaluation and to make a point-estimate of the rate based on observed data; and to construct time-series estimates of rates of overvaluation of Pakistani currency at the official exchange rate for the period from 1948/49 to 1964/65.

Der bedarf an währungsreserven

Abstract: The Need for Monetary Reserves. — Three approaches towards a quantification of the need for international liquidity are analyzed in the present article. The “quantity-theory approach” (Harrod, Triffin) implies that international liquidity be expanded about in proportion to the growth of international trade. In his “marginal-cost-benefit approach” Heller calculates an optimum of monetary reserves. When the social marginal costs of holding reserves are equal to the social marginal benefits the amount of reserves is optimal. In the “variability approach” the anticipated cumulative deficits — estimated on the basis of past experience — are a measure of the need for international liquidity. None of the three approaches takes into account minimum reserve requirements which may be necessary in a system of free convertibility in order to be able to defend the currency against speculative attacks.

The world's money: how it works

Abstract: Preface. Part A: How the World's Money Works 1. The uses of world money 2. How are payments made? 3. Why payments are made 4. Which currencies are stronger? 5. Why exchange rates vary 6. The art of avoiding crises 7.Why is gold used? 8. The gold markets 9. Who are the gnomes? Part B: How It Has Worked 10. The days of the gold standard 11. 1929 12. The birth of currency blocs 13. Bretton Woods and after Part C: How It Will Work 14. Will 1929 recur? 15. Can gold be replaced? Part D: How Everything Works 16. How the IMF works 17. How the World Bank works 18. How the new 'World Money' works 19. How the City works 20. How the eurodollar market works 21. How to raise $3,000 million in 24 hours 22. How to read the press. Index.

A Great Victory for Mao Tse-Tung'S Thought on the Financial and Monetary Front — China'S People's Currency [Jenmin-Pi] Has Become an Exceptionally Stable Currency Of The World

Abstract: Vice Chairman Lin Piao solemnly announced in his report to the Ninth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party: "As is pointed out in the ‘Sixteen Articles,’ ‘The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution is a strong driving force behind the development of the productive force of our society’ We have had bumper harvests for successive years Industrial production, science, and technology have also been flourishing The activism of the broad working people in revolution and production has been unprecedentedly high Many industrial and mining enterprises are continually breaking their own records, production has reached the highest level in history, and the revolution in techniques continues to develop The market is thriving and prices are stable We completely repaid our national debt by the end of 1968 China has become a socialist nation without foreign or domestic debt" This is an encouraging and great event in our political and economic life

Institutions for Macroeconomic Stability in Africa

Abstract: Before discussing the type of institutions that can be designed for overcoming the credibility problem raised by monetary policy, this paper defines macroeconomic instability, showing that inflation is a crucial factor. The relationships between inflation and macroeconomic instability are analysed using a small Australian-type model, with rational expectations, where a too-high rate of inflation entails a continuum of equilibria, regarded as the root of macroeconomic instability. The credibility issue is then discussed in a simple optimal seignorage framework. Different institutional solutions, ranging from currency boards to IMF conditionality, are discussed.