|
Showing 1 - 8 of
8 matches in All Departments
With a review of the executive branch and congressional actions,
this book provides the purposes and history of U.S. participation
in the multilateral development banks and the relationship between
process and goals in the formulation and application of U.S.
Foreign policy.
The IMF was created in a world of fixed-parity exchange rates,
where most currencies were defined in terms of the U.S. dollar and
the dollar was defined in terms of gold. Countries could devalue
their currencies only if they were faced with in the original
language of Article IV, fundamental disequilibrium in their economy
and only if the IMF approved. International capital movements were
restricted and cumbersome. That world has now largely disappeared.
Since the 1970s, the relative value of most major currencies is
determined by world currency markets, and the daily volume of
international currency movements far surpasses the volume of
currency circulating in most major countries. Article IV was
amended in 1976 to replace the fixed-parity exchange rate system
with new procedures for enhanced surveillance in the new world of
flexible exchange rates.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF), conceived at the Bretton
Woods conference in July 1944, has become the focal point of the
international monetary system. Created in 1946 with 46 members, it
has grown to include 184 countries. The IMF has six purposes that
are outlined in Article I of the IMF Articles of Agreement. They
are the promotion of international monetary cooperation; the
expansion and balanced growth of international trade; exchange rate
stability; the elimination of restrictions on the international
flow of capital; insuring confidence by making the general
resources of the Fund temporarily available to members; and the
orderly adjustment of balance of payment (BOP) imbalances.
What is a developing country? How does one know whether a country
is actually developing or not? This report looks at this issue from
several perspectives. Using a series of reports by various
organizations, it shows how countries rank in their levels of
development according to different criteria. Countries ranking high
according to one measure may rank lower according to another. It
was once commonly believed that raising a country's average per
capita income level would lead to improvements in most other areas.
Time and experience have shown, however, that social conditions and
the general well-being of people may not necessarily improve when a
country's average income level increases. Countries with relatively
high levels of per capita income may rank lower in their social and
structural development. By contrast, some poor countries rank with
the advanced countries in their governance and levels of individual
and economic freedom.
China has a policy of pegging its currency (the yuan) to the U.S.
dollar. If the yuan is undervalued against the dollar, there are
likely to be both benefits and costs to the U.S. economy. It would
mean that imported Chinese goods are cheaper than they would be if
the yuan were market determined. This lowers prices for U.S.
consumers and diminishes inflationary pressures. It also lowers
prices for U.S. firms that use imported inputs (such as parts) in
their production, making such firms more competitive. Critics of
China's peg point to the large and growing U.S. trade deficit with
China as evidence that the yuan is undervalued and harmful to the
U.S. economy. The relationship is more complex, for a number of
reasons. First, while China runs a large trade surplus with the
United States, it runs a significant trade deficit with the rest of
the world. Second, an increasing level of Chinese exports are from
foreign invested companies in China that have shifted production
there to take advantage of China's abundant low cost labour. Third,
the deficit masks the fact that China has become one of the fastest
growing markets for U.S. exports. Finally, the trade deficit with
China accounted for 23% of the sum of total U.S. bilateral trade
deficits in 2004, indicating that the overall trade deficit is not
caused by the exchange rate policy of one country, but rather the
shortfall between U.S. saving and investment. This book presents a
coherent examination of the details behind China's currency
policies as they relate to outside factors.
What is a developing country? How does one know whether a country
is actually developing or not? This book looks at this issue from
several perspectives. Using a series of reports by various
organisations, it shows how countries rank in their levels of
development according to different criteria. Countries ranking high
according to one measure may rank lower according to another. It
was once commonly believed that raising a country's average per
capita income level would lead to improvements in most other areas.
Time and experience have shown, however, that social conditions and
general well-being of people may not necessarily improve when a
country's average income level increases. Countries with high
levels of per capita income may rank lower in their social and
structural development. By contrast, some poor countries rank with
the advanced countries in their governance and levels of individual
and economic freedom. This book examines four criteria which are
often used today to rank and assess countries' levels of
development. They are: per capita income; economic and social
structure; social conditions, and; the prevailing level of economic
and political freedom. Specific indices or quantitative studies are
explained and applied to each criteria and differences among the
various measures are explained.
|
You may like...
Hoe Ek Dit Onthou
Francois Van Coke, Annie Klopper
Paperback
R300
R219
Discovery Miles 2 190
|