International Finance Chapter 1 The Global Macroeconomy Chapter

International Finance Chapter 1 The Global Macroeconomy

Chapter Outline • Foreign exchange: currencies and crises • Globalization of finance: debts and deficits • Government and institutions: Policies and Performance

Intro to International Macroeconomics • large-scale economic problems in global interdependent economies. • key economy-wide variables such as exchange rates, prices, interest rates, income, wealth, and the current account.

Foreign Exchange: Currencies and Crises • Countries have different currencies, therefore a complete understanding of how a country’s economy works requires that we study the exchange rate (the price of foreign currency). • Because products and investments move across borders, fluctuations in exchange rates have significant effects on the relative prices of home and foreign: o goods (such as autos and clothing), o services (such as insurance and tourism), and o assets (such as equities and bonds).

Foreign Exchange: Currencies and Crises • How Exchange Rates Behave

Foreign Exchange: Currencies and Crises Questions • How are exchange rates determined? • Why do some exchange rates fluctuate sharply in the short run, while others are almost constant? • Can exchange rates be forecast in the long run? • How do exchange rates affect the real economy? • How do changes in exchange rates affect the values of foreign assets, and hence national wealth?

Foreign Exchange: Currencies and Crises • In an exchange rate crisis a currency experiences a sudden and pronounced loss of value against another currency following a period in which the exchange rate had been fixed or relatively stable. • There have been more than 27 exchange rate crises in the 12 -year period from 1997 to 2011. • In some cases, including Argentina in 2002, exchange rate crisis lead to governments declaring default (i. e. , a suspension of payments).

Foreign Exchange: Currencies and Crises

Foreign Exchange: Currencies and Crises • Governments in crisis may appeal for external help from international development organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank, or other countries. Questions • Why do exchange rate crises occur? Rational or not? • Why are these crises so economically and politically costly? • What steps might be taken to prevent crises, and at what cost?

Globalization of Finance: Debts and Deficits Current Account --CA = EX – IM = Y – ( C + I + G) • CA>0 – Exports > Imports – Total income > total spending – Net foreign wealth is increasing • CA<0 – Exports < Imports – Total income < total spending – Net foreign wealth is decreasing

Globalization of Finance: Debts and Deficits Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

Globalization of Finance: Debts and Deficits

Globalization of Finance: Debts and Deficits Questions • How do different international economic transactions contribute to current account imbalances? • How are these imbalances financed? How long can they persist? • Why are some countries in surplus and others in deficit? What role do current account imbalances perform in a wellfunctioning economy? • Why are these imbalances the focus of so much policy debate?

Current Account Deficit • A country borrows from another to finance its spending. • CA deficit adds to a country’s debt. • A debtor is not necessarily a bad thing. It depends on how a nation spends its borrowed money: on current consumption or on productive investment. If it is the latter, then the nation’s future production would increase and more than offset its debt. As a result, the nation will enjoy an enhanced ability to consume more goods and services in the future.

Debtors and Creditors: External Wealth • Total wealth or net worth = assets - liabilities • A surplus (saving money by buying assets or paying down debt ) helps increase net worth. • Similarly, a deficit (taking on debt or running down savings) contributes to a lower net wealth. • From an international perspective, a country’s net worth is called its external wealth and it equals the difference between its foreign assets and its foreign liabilities. • Positive external wealth makes a country a creditor nation; negative external wealth makes it a debtor nation. 15

U. S. Gross Foreign Assets and Liabilities, 1976 - 2009 Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis, June 2010

Globalization of Finance: Debts and Deficits Questions • What forms can a nation’s external wealth take and does the composition of wealth matter? • What explains the level of a nation’s external wealth and how does it change over time? • How important is the current account as a determinant of external wealth? How does it relate to the country’s present and future economic welfare?

Government and Institutions: Policies and Performance • Government actions influence economic outcomes in many ways by making decisions about exchange rates, macroeconomic policies, debt repayment, and so on. • To gain a deeper understanding of the global macroeconomy, economists study policies, rules and norms, or regimes in which policy choices are made. • At the broadest level, research also focuses on institutions, a term that refers to the overall legal, political, cultural, and social structures that influence economic and political actions.