Britain's Retro Idea: Taxing Foreign Exchange Transactions Nov 13, 2009
When Tobin first proposed the idea in 1972, it was seen as a way to stop currency speculators after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates, but it was never imposed. Sweden enacted a tax on certain financial transactions in the 1980s but ditched it in 1991 after trading volumes sank. (Time.com)
Baltic economies: The Estonian exception Nov 3, 2009
Many outsiders have wondered if the three countries can maintain their fixed exchange rates, which peg the national currencies to the euro. A currency or banking collapse in the Baltic would spook markets elsewhere in the region, threatening wobbly economies such as Hungary s.. (The Economist)
Global Crisis `Highlights' Imbalances in East Europe Transition, EBRD Says Nov 2, 2009
Bulgaria, Latvia and Lithuania, which have fixed exchange rates, will contract further as they cut wages, prices and government spending. Albania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will grow faster next year than their neighbors due to relatively unharmed banking systems, the EBRD said. (Bloomberg -- UK)
* Business Quick Take Nov 1, 2009
It is very difficult to maintain fixed exchange rates in a very volatile economy for a very long period of time, which is why the world has abandoned the fixed exchange rate system, he said in a speech in Shanghai yesterday. He said the US economy was still nowhere near the end of its recession and the labor market was in very bad shape. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Business)
Nero's ghost in Istanbul Oct 23, 2009
The IMF required fixed exchange rates as an essential condition for monetary cooperation and stability ... To maintain fixed exchange rates, countries had to coordinate economic and financial policies. (Asia Times Online)
Stay calm, they speak with forked tongues Oct 10, 2009
This argument is a hangover from the days of fixed exchange rates and controls on the flow of capital between countries. And as the Reserve's governor, Glenn Stevens, explained. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
When politicians talk economics, they think votes Oct 10, 2009
This argument is a hangover from the days of fixed exchange rates and controls on the flow of capital between countries. And as the Reserve governor, Glenn Stevens, explained repeatedly to the Senate economics committee last week, that argument no longer applies in a world of deregulated and highly integrated capital markets. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Business)
Currency fiddlerswrong to cry foul Oct 9, 2009
The current market determined system of exchange rates emerged by default in the early 1970s, when the Bretton Woods system of government-enforced fixed exchange rates failed, and the United States ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold. This system has no rules or effective governing structure. (Asia Times Online)
Oracle Q1 Profit Rises 4.4% But New Licenses Dip Sep 18, 2009
At fixed exchange rates, software revenue improved 4%, while service revenue fell 18. -By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2480; john. (SmartMoney)
Germany: The lives of others Sep 14, 2009
That was the path taken in the early 1970s, when the D-mark rose after the collapse of the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates. It was followed again after the 1990s when Germany s reunification boom and devaluations by some trading partners pushed up its relative wage costs. (The Economist)
Bias against innovation Sep 2, 2009
They permitted the development of risk management to handle the volatility that became endemic after the breakdown of fixed exchange rates and the deregulation of interest rates in the 1970s. Yet the majority of innovations in wholesale finance are small scale and of no great import. (FT.com -- Markets)
The role of boards in managing risks of firms Aug 21, 2009
Exchange rates are volatile since most countries no longer have fixed exchange rates. The demand for currencies is now less about financing trade than about carry trades. (The Star Online, Malaysia -- Business)
Integrity deficit has its price Aug 20, 2009
The Bretton Woods regime of fixed exchange rates was based on the dollar pegged to gold as a reserve currency in an international trade regime that disallowed free flow of funds across national borders outside of transactions between central banks ... The Bretton Woods monetary regime of fixed exchange rates built around a gold-backed dollar did not consider unrestricted cross-border flow of funds desirable or necessary for facilitating international trade. (Asia Times Online)
China's sleepless nights Aug 6, 2009
In the 1960s, the US pursued deliberate expansionary fiscal and monetary policies to finance the Vietnam War, in turn forcing it to abandon the Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates in August, 1971. In 2009, China's response to the crisis was to expand its money and fiscal policies in an attempt to absorb part of its reserves and reduce unemployment, as millions of jobs were lost following a sharp downturn in exports. (Asia Times Online)
Buttonwood: Caveat creditor Jul 3, 2009
None of this is good news for creditors, who will surely not put up with the situation for long. The actions they take to protect their portfolios demanding higher bond yields, pushing for fixed exchange rates will define the next economic system. Readers' comments. (The Economist)
Oracle Dips in Q4 But Tops Analysts' Estimates Jun 24, 2009
Assuming fixed exchange rates, the latest figure would have been 51 cents ... At fixed exchange rates, software revenue rose 6%, while services revenue fell 7. (SmartMoney)
* Chinas state auditor declares US$176m profit from Games Jun 20, 2009
Based on fixed exchange rates, the scope of expenditure of the Beijing Games was less than the previous Games. At the same time as far as we are aware, the next Olympic Games budget will be bigger than the Beijing budget. (Taipei Times, Taiwan -- Business)
In One Boat, but in Stormy Weather, A Commentary by Marek Belka and Srobona Mitra, IMF's European Department May 15, 2009
These policies are all the more important for countries committed to fixed exchange rates which, lacking orderly exit options for now, have little choice but to rein in fiscal policy and accelerate structural change. But the crisis also has made it clear that economic integration has outpaced the coordination of macroeconomic and financial sector policies in Europe. (IMF News)
Buttonwood: Credit, debt and birth pains May 15, 2009
European nations, in particular, maintained a hankering for fixed exchange rates. But floating rates eventually prevailed, particularly for the major currencies of the dollar, yen and D-mark. (The Economist)
Special Report: Easier for a camel Apr 3, 2009
Fixed exchange rates were abandoned, financial systems were liberalised, trade unions were confronted and taxes were cut, all of which helped usher in the asset-price booms of the 1980s and 1990s. Some of those who played the markets with borrowed money the founders of hedge-fund and private-equity firms became billionaires. (The Economist)
An imbalanced summit Mar 25, 2009
We went through this same problem in the 1930s and agreed then to have fixed exchange rates and industrialization policies together with welfare policies. This was the background to the Bretton Woods system. (Asia Times Online)
China suggests switch from dollar Mar 25, 2009
Mr Zhou said the primacy of the US currency in the financial system had led to increasingly frequent crises since the collapse in the early 1970s of the system of fixed exchange rates. On Tuesday, the dollar weakened against most major currencies following the announcement of a US plan to buy up toxic debt. (BBC News -- Asia-Pacific)
Tax to the rescue Mar 24, 2009
Few heeded the admonition encoded in the 1962 Mundell-Fleming model, still valid today: Countries wishing to interlink their economies in world trade cannot simultaneously achieve fixed exchange rates, autonomy of monetary policy, and free global capital flows. Since 1972, when the (post-World War II) Bretton Woods system collapsed, national policymakers have been confronted with this axiom that they can achieve two of these three goals. (Asia Times Online)
INSIDE EUROPE: Peg or float? No easy answers for Eastern Europe Mar 10, 2009
The impact is being felt in deeper recession and pay cuts in countries with fixed exchange rates, or punishing mortgage repayments for homeowners in countries with floating currencies who took out loans in euros or Swiss francs. "The willingness to lend has disappeared internationally, so any country that has an external financing requirement needs to get rid of it quickly," said David Lubin, head of economic and market analysis for Central and Eastern Europe at Citigroup. (International Herald Tribune -- Business)
Baltic states Feb 24, 2009
Latvia is becoming a test case not just among Baltic neighbours Estonia and Lithuania, but other emerging Europe states with fixed exchange rates. Huge borrowing, financed mostly by Nordic banks, funded consumer and property booms in the Baltics, leading to yawning current account deficits Latvias was 14 per cent of gross domestic product in 2008. (FT.com -- Markets)
Diplomacy: 'Buy American,' But Only Our Debt? Feb 24, 2009
Back then, we called them "fixed exchange rates.". The Chinese have also been targeted by Congress for trade "disruption" in no-longer competitive U.S. industries like textiles. (Investors Business Daily)
