Essay On Exchange Rate

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Introduction (FIX) Living in the world today, as a global society, we have become increasingly connected and continue to do so with each passing year. Individuals across the globe find it has become significantly easier to transport goods/services from country to country. The Fundamentals of Exchange Rates Exchange Rates As the foundation for the foreign exchange process, exchange rates are one of the most important elements in business, both internationally and domestically. Defined as the rate at which one currency may be converted into another, exchange rates are used by countries in order to purchase products or services from one another. When examining these exchange rates it is important to note that their two distinct types of rates used for global trade: nominal and real. The first of these exchange rates, nominal, is the number of units of a given currency that can purchase a unit of a given foreign currency (INSERT CITATION). When using this rate, countries are able to value of their own currency relative to one-another when trading in the foreign exchange market. This principle, however, is not exclusive to trading currencies. Similar to the nominal exchange rate, the real exchange rate uses goods and services in place of currency. As a result, it is defined as the amount of goods or services that can be traded in one country for a good or service in another country. Using this rate, countries are able to gauge the competitiveness of their goods and services in trading with any given country, making it a key factor for countries trading in the global economy. Because this rate, along with the nominal, are constantly in use in the global economy, these rates can fluctuate depending on a range of factors ... ... middle of paper ... ...ERT SOURCE DOLAR TODAY) This new tier was designed in hopes to close the gab between official and black-market trading, a problem Venezuela has been battling for decades. Having such a high differential between the official and unofficial exchange rate has caused many problems for Venezuela, two of the biggest being inflation and scarcity of goods. As of January of this year, inflation rates rose to nearly 56% and the scarcity index reached an all-time high of 28%; which because the exchange rate is fixed, economist claim this will only serve to perpetuate these problems. (INSERT CITATION). That being said, having just started in March, it is still too early for any real in-depth analysis on this new exchange system. Until an adequate amount of time has passed, the world will not know whether or not this exchange system can support itself and, ultimately, Venezuela.

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