International Issues in Economics

1. International Issues in Economics

2. Intro Individuals, businesses and governments in a country may interact with individuals, businesses and governments in another country. In this sense, we say residents of different countries interact. As you know, in the US the money we carry around and use in our day to day transactions is called the dollar. But, other countries may call their money something else. For example, there is the British Pound, the Japanese Yen, the Canadian Dollar and the Chinese Yuan. Note that typically one US dollar does not equal 1 unit of the other country’s money (not even the Canadian Dollar).

3. Travel abroad Recently I was able to travel to another country for the first time in my life. I only had dollars in my pocket because when I earn money I get paid in dollars. But when I went to buy something the folks there didn’t want dollars, they wanted their own currency. Luckily for me, a big bank there was willing to take my dollars and give me the money (often called foreign exchange) of the country I was in (I was charged a fee, of course). I was also able to use my credit card and debit card and the banks involved paid in the money of the country I was visiting.

4. US export Say some folks in Nebraska want to sell beef in Columbia. This would be a US export. The folks in Columbia do not have dollars. The Nebraska sellers want dollars. The Columbians 1) Demand US dollars, while at the same time 2) Increasing the supply of foreign currency in the US. This is an example of a good being exported, but a similar result holds if we export a service (like engineering knowledge of building a bridge), or if we make a financial investment in a foreign country and we are going to get paid interest or dividends.

5. US import Say in Nebraska someone wants to roast coffee beans to sell to the public in the form of coffee. The Nebraskan would import the coffee beans from Columbia, perhaps. The folks in Columbia do not want dollars. They want their own currency. The Nebraska importer has dollars. The Nebraskan 1) Demands units of foreign currency, while at the same time 2) Reducing the supply of foreign currency in the US. This is an example of a good being imported, but a similar result holds if we import a service (like insurance for a foreign company), or if foreigners make a financial investment in the US and we are going to pay them interest or dividends.

6. Balance of Payments A nation’s balance of payments, BOP, is a system to keep track of the international transactions of the residents for a particular period of time. The focus is on the money flows. Any transaction that causes money to flow into a country is a credit to its BOP account and will have a plus sign attached to it. Any transaction that causes money to flow out of a country is a debit to its BOP account and will have a minus sign attached to it. From our previous examples, the export of Nebraska beef is a credit and the import of Columbian coffee beans is a debit. The BOP is made up of the CURRENT ACCOUT and the CAPITAL AND FINANCIAL ACCOUNT.

7. The Current Account The current account is one part of the BOP. The types of transactions kept track of in the current account include a) export of goods, b) import of goods, c) export of services, d) import of services, e) net investment income, and f) net transfers.

8. More Current Account Remember a credit is a money inflow and will have a plus sign and a debit is a money outflow and will have a minus sign. For the items in the current account we have a) export of goods + b) import of goods - c) export of services + d) import of services - e) net investment income + f) net transfers - Recall exports bring money in and imports have money go out. The signs we see here for imports and exports will always be the case. But the signs on net investment income and net transfers will not always be as shown. Let’s explore this and other ideas next.

9. Even more Current Account info Folks talk about balance on goods, balance on services, and balance on goods and services. The point here is the combining of exports and imports. Note in a recent year the balance on goods was negative, the balance on services was positive and the balance on goods and services was negative meaning the goods negative was bigger than the services positive. When the balance on goods and services is negative we talk of a trade deficit, and when positive we talk of a trade surplus. Net investment income is made up of i) interest and dividends paid by foreigners to us (an inflow - a credit or plus sign) and ii) interest and dividend paid by us to foreigners (an outflow - a debit or minus sign). It just so happens in a recent year this was a net positive.

10. Still more current account info Net transfers is made up of i) foreigners making payments to us for things like aid after a disaster (hurricane Katrina, an inflow - a credit or plus sign), and ii) US making similar payments abroad (an outflow - a debit or minus sign). In the US this term has been a net minus for many years. A current account deficit means when looking at the whole set of accounts the debits are larger than the credits. This also means the outflow is larger than the inflow.

11. Capital and Financial Account The capital and financial account is the second part of the BOP. The types of transactions kept track of here are a) The balance on the capital account, b) Foreign purchases of assets in the US, and c) US purchases of assets abroad. The balance on the capital account is a net amount measuring debt forgiveness. Analogy: say I owe you 10 bucks. When you forgive the debt it is like you give me 10 bucks. Did you give me 10 bucks? NO, but it feels like it because you had it coming to you and then cancelled it. From your perspective you had an outflow of 10 bucks – a debit! So, when a debt owed to the US is forgiven it is a debit. When foreigners forgive debt we owe it is a credit. Note in a recent year this balance is a debit – we forgave more than they.

12. More Capital and Financial Account The foreign purchase of assets in the US (like US exporting assets such as real estate or US government securities) will always be a credit or inflow and the US purchase of assets abroad (like US importing assets such as common stock in a foreign firm or buying a foreign hotel chain) will always be a debit or outflow. The balance on these two accounts is called the balance on financial account and in the US has been positive lately.

13. BOP = 0 The BOP then really is made up of the combination of the current account, the capital and financial account. If you are like me, then it is not obvious that the balance on all these accounts must add up to 0. But, these accounts add up to zero during a period of time. No kidding! Note I am not saying the current account balance must be zero, or the capital account must be zero, or the financial account must be zero. Any one of these may be in deficit or surplus, but in total the accounts must add to zero. This means a current account deficit must be accompanied by a capital and financial account surplus, and vice versa.

14. A Story In this story we want to think in the perspective of the foreigners want to pay for stuff using their currency (what we call foreign exchange) and wanting to be paid in their currency (have I mentioned we call their currency foreign exchange?). On the next slide you see a big table and on it we will put on and take off foreign exchange. For example, when we export goods and services foreigners bring foreign exchange to the table. When we import we take foreign exchange off the table.

15. The big foreign exchange table in the US - + Exports Net Investment income Foreign purchase of assets in US Imports Net transfers Capital Account US purchase of assets abroad

16. More of the story Now you see in the slide with the table a dashed line. All the accounts above that line make up the current account. What is below is called the capital and financial account. (Remember what is above and what is below must balance out to zero.) It is very useful to separate what private citizens do in the capital and financial account and what the government or the Federal Reserve does. Scenario 1 Say on the current account we have a deficit – this means less foreign exchange is coming to the table than going out. Also say privately on the capital and financial account we also have a deficit (or a surplus smaller in absolute size than the current account deficit).

17. The rest of the story Scenario 1 so far would be called a balance of payments deficit. More foreign exchange is leaving the country than coming in. AT this point the FED makes an inpayment of foreign exchange to the table. This would be like the foreigners are purchasing assets in the US and the asset is their own currency that we have been holding. Scenario 2 Say we have a current account surplus and a private capital and financial account surplus (or deficit smaller than current account surplus). Then we would have foreign exchange piling up on the table. The FED will make an outpayment of foreign exchange. This is like the US purchasing assets abroad. This balance of payments surplus results in the FED accumulating foreign exchange. When the FED is making inpayments or outpayments it is working with what are called OFFICIAL RESERVES.