CHAPTER 15

The Foreign
Exchange
Market

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Prentice Hall.

All rights reserved.
 Chapter Preview
 In the mid-1980s, American businesses
became less competitive relative to their
foreign counterparts. By the 2000s, though,
competitiveness increased. Why?
 Part of the answer can be found in
exchange rates. In the 1980s, the dollar
was strong, and US goods were expensive
to foreign buyers.

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 Chapter Preview
 By the 1990s and 2000s, the dollar
weakened, so American goods became
cheaper and American businesses became
more competitive.

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 Chapter Preview
 In this chapter, we develop a modern view
of exchange rate determination that
explains recent behavior in the foreign
exchange market. Topics include:
─ Foreign Exchange Market
─ Exchange Rates in the Long Run
─ Exchange Rates in the Short Run
─ Explaining Changes in Exchange Rates

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 Foreign Exchange Market
 Most countries of the world have their own
currencies: the U.S dollar., the euro in
Europe, the Brazilian real, and the Chinese
yuan, just to name a few.
 The trading of currencies and banks
deposits is what makes up the foreign
exchange market.

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 What are Foreign
Exchange Rates?
 Two kinds of exchange rate transactions
make up the foreign exchange market:
─ Spot transactions involve the near-immediate
exchange of bank deposits, completed at the
spot rate.
─ Forward transactions involve exchanges at
some future date, completed at the forward
rate.

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Foreign Exchange Market:
Historical Exchange Rates

Current rates
Foreign Exchange Market:
Historical Exchange Rates

13-8
 Why Are Exchange Rates
Important?
 When the currency of your country
appreciates relative to another country, your
country’s goods prices  abroad and
foreign goods prices  in your country.
─ Makes domestic businesses less competitive
─ Benefits domestic consumers (you)

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 Why Are Exchange Rates
Important?
 For example, in 1999, the euro was valued at
$1.18. On June 23, 2010, it was valued at
$1.23.
─ Euro appreciated 4.2% (1.23 1.18) / 1.18
─ Dollar depreciated 4.2% (0.812 0.847) / 0.847
• Note: 0.812  1 / 1.23, and 0.85 1 / 1.18

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Foreign
Exchange
Market:
Exchange
Rates

Current foreign exchange rates

http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/H10
/hist

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 How is Foreign
Exchange Traded?
 FX traded in over-the-counter market
1. Most trades involve buying and selling bank
deposits denominated in different currencies.
2. Trades in the foreign exchange market involve
transactions in excess of $1 million.
3. Typical consumers buy foreign currencies from
retail dealers, such as American Express.
 FX volume exceeds $3 trillion per day.

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 Exchange Rates
in the Long Run
 Exchange rates are determined in markets
by the interaction of supply and demand.
 An important concept that drives the forces
of supply and demand is the Law of One
Price.

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 Exchange Rates in the Long
Run: Law of One Price
 The Law of One Price states that the price
of an identical good will be the same
throughout the world, regardless of which
country produces it.
 Example: American steel costs $100 per
ton, while Japanese steel costs 10,000 yen
per ton.

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 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: Law
of One Price
If E = 50 yen/$ then price are:
American Steel Japanese Steel
In U.S. $100 $200
In Japan 5000 yen 10,000 yen

If E = 100 yen/$ then price are:

American Steel Japanese Steel
In U.S. $100 $100
In Japan 10,000 yen 10,000 yen

 Law of one price  E = 100 yen/$

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 Law of One Price Quiz

 Recently the yen price of Japanese steel

has increased by 10% to (11,000 yen)
relative to the dollar price of American steel
(unchanged at $100).
 By What amount must the dollar increase or
decrease in value for the law of one price to
hold?
 Explain.
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 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: Theory
of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

 The theory of PPP states that exchange

rates between two currencies will adjust to
reflect changes in price levels.
 PPP  Domestic price level  10%,
domestic currency  10%
─ Application of law of one price to price levels
─ Works in long run, not short run. Why?

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 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: Theory of
Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)

 Problems with PPP

1. What is the exchange rate between Hawaii
and Wyoming? Shouldn’t houses in Hawaii
and Wyoming cost the same?
2. All goods are not identical in both countries
(i.e., Toyota versus Chevy)
3. Many goods and services are not traded
(e.g., haircuts, land, etc.)

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 Exchange Rates in the
Long Run: PPP

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 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: Factors
Affecting Exchange Rates in Long Run

 Basic Principle: If a factor increases

demand for domestic goods relative to
foreign goods, the exchange rate 
 Four major factors
─ relative price levels
─ tariffs and quotas
─ preferences for domestic v. foreign goods
─ and productivity.

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 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: Factors
Affecting Exchange Rates in Long Run

 Relative price levels: a rise in relative price

levels cause a country’s currency to
depreciate.
 Tariffs and quotas: increasing trade barriers
causes a country’s currency to appreciate.

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 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: Factors
Affecting Exchange Rates in Long Run

 Preferences for domestic v. foreign goods:

increased demand for a country’s good
causes its currency to appreciate;
increased demand for imports causes the
domestic currency to depreciate.
 Productivity: if a country is more productive
relative to another, its currency appreciates.

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 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: Factors
Affecting Exchange Rates in Long Run

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 Exchange Rates
in the Short Run
 In the short run, it is key to recognize that
an exchange rate is nothing more than the
price of domestic bank deposits in terms of
foreign bank deposits.
 If you treat bank deposits in different
countries as perfect substitutes, then all an
investor cares about is the expected return
for deposits in each country.

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 Exchange Rates
in the Short Run
 The usual approach to supply-demand
analysis focused on import/export demand
 Here, we emphasize stocks of assets rather
than flows of goods, because flows are
small relative to the domestic and foreign
asset stocks.

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 Exchange Rates in the Short
Run: Supply Curve Analysis
 We will use the US as the “home country,” so
domestic assets are denominated in US dollars.
We will use “euros” to generically represent any
foreign country's currency.
 Dollar assets supplied is primarily the quantity of
bank deposits, bonds, and equities in the United
States. This is fairly fixed in the short-run.
 The quantity supplied at any exchange rate does
not change, so the supply curve, S, is vertical.

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 Exchange Rates in the Short
Run: Demand Curve Analysis
 The demand curve traces out the quantity
demanded at each current exchange rate
 The current exchange rate and the
expected future exchange rate are held
constant in this analysis.
 Let’s see a specific example that illustrates
this point.

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 Exchange Rates in the Short
Run: Supply and Demand Curves
A ssu m e iF = 5 % , E e
t+ 1 = 1 e u ro /$
P o in t
A : E t = 1 .0 5 ( 1 .0 0 – 1 .0 5 ) /1 .0 5 = - 4 .8 %
B : E t = 1 .0 0 ( 1 .0 0 – 1 .0 0 ) /1 .0 0 = 0 .0 %
C: E t+ 1 = 0 .9 5 ( 1 .0 0 – 0 .9 5 ) /0 .9 5 = 5 .2 %

 The demand curve connects these

points and is downward sloping
because when Et is lower, the expected
appreciation of the dollar is greater.
 The lower the current exch.
rate, the greater the demand
for $ assets.

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 Exchange Rates in the Short
Run: Equilibrium
 Equilibrium
─ Supply = Demand at E*
─ If Et  E*, Demand  Supply, buy $, Et 
─ If Et  E*, Demand  Supply, sell $, Et 

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 Explaining Changes
in Exchange Rates
 To understand how exchange rates shift in
time, we need to understand the factors
that shift expected returns for domestic and
foreign deposits.
 We will examine these separately, as well
as changes in the money supply and
exchange rate overshooting.

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 Explaining Changes in
Exchange Rates: Increase in iD
 Demand curve
shifts right
when
iD : because
people want to
hold more
dollars
 This causes
domestic
currency to
appreciate.

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 Explaining Changes in
Exchange Rates: Increase in iF
 Demand
curve shifts
left when iF :
because
people want
to hold fewer
dollars
 This causes
domestic
currency to
depreciate.

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 Explaining Changes in Exchange
Rates: Increase in Expected Future FX
Rates

 Demand curve
shifts left when
:
because
people want to
hold more
dollars
 This causes
domestic
currency to
appreciate.

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 Explaining Changes in
Exchanges Rates
 Similar to determinants of exchange rates in the
long-run, the following changes increase the
demand for foreign goods (shifting the demand
curve to the right), increasing
─ Expected fall in relative U.S. price levels
─ Expected increase in relative U.S. trade barriers
─ Expected lower U.S. import demand
─ Expected higher foreign demand for U.S. exports
─ Expected higher relative U.S. productivity
 These are summarized in the following slides.

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 Explaining Changes in
Exchanges Rates (a)

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 Explaining Changes in
Exchanges Rates (b)

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 Applications

Our analysis allows us to take a look at the

response of exchange rates to a variety of
macro-economic factors. For example, we
can use this framework to examine (1) the
impact of changes in interest rates, and (2)
the impact of money growth.

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 Application: Interest Rate
Changes
 Changes in domestic interest rates are
often cited in the press as affecting
exchange rates.
 We must carefully examine the source of
the change to make such a statement.
Interest rates change because either (a) the
real rate or (b) the expected inflation is
changing. The effect of each differs.

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 Effect of Changes in Interest Rates
on the Equilibrium Exchange Rate

 When the domestic real interest rate

increases, the domestic currency
appreciates. We have already seen this
situation in Figure 15.4.
 When the domestic expected inflation
increases, the domestic currency reacts in
the opposite direction—it depreciates. This
is shown on the next slide.

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 Effect of Changes in Interest Rates
on the Equilibrium Exchange Rate

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 Exchange rate volatility
 Exchange rate overshooting is important
because it helps explain why foreign
exchange rates are so volatile.
 Another explanation deals with changes in
the expected appreciation of exchange rates.
As anything changes our expectations (price
levels, productivity, inflation, etc.), exchange
rates will change immediately.

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 Applications

Our analysis also allows us to take a look at

the weak dollar in the 1980s, and (partially)
explain why it became stronger in the 1990s
and 2000s. We present a summary in Figure
15.8, on the next slide.

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 The Dollar and Interest Rates
 Value of $ and real
rates rise and fall
together, as theory
predicts
 No association
between $ and
nominal rates: $ falls
in late 1970s as
nominal rate rises

Daily foreign exchange rate

http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?e=FOREX

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 The Dollar and Interest Rates
 A failure to distinguish between real and
nominal interest rates can lead to poor
predictions of exchange rate movements!
 Note the difference between real and
nominal rates in the next figure. Which
better explains the weakness of the dollar in
the late 1970s and the strength of the dollar
in the early 1980s?

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 The Dollar and Interest Rates

Daily foreign exchange rate

http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?e=FOREX

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 Case: The Subprime Crisis
and the Dollar

Is there a relationship between the subprime

crisis and swings in the value of the dollar?
In August 2007, the dollar began an accelerated
decline in value, falling by 9% against the euro
through July 2008
The dollar suddenly shot upward, by over 20%
against the euro by the end of October 2008.

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 Case: The Subprime Crisis
and the Dollar
 In 2007, the Fed lowered the fed funds rate by
325 bps, while ECBs did not need to do this.
Relative return on the dollar fell, shifting demand
to the left.
 By mid-2008, ECBs starting cutting their domestic
rates, increasing the relative expected return of
the US dollar (a rightward shift). A “flight to qualit
y” in T-bonds also increased the demand for
dollars.

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 Reading the WSJ
 The figure on the next slide shows the
“Currency Trading” column from the Wall
Street Journal on June 4th, 2010.
 Some highlights include:
─ The FOMC downgraded its outlook on the
economy, and continued its commitment to low
interest rates.
─ A near-term UK rate increase is also unlikely
given their economic situation.

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 The Practicing Manger:
Profiting from FX Forecasts
 Forecasters look at factors discussed here
 FX forecasts affect financial institutions
managers' decisions
 If forecast euro appreciate, yen depreciate,
─ Sell franc assets, buy euro assets
─ Make more euros loans, less yen loans
─ FX traders sell yen, buy euros

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 Chapter Summary
 Foreign Exchange Market: the market for
deposits in one currency versus deposits
in another.
 Exchange Rates in the Long Run: driven
primarily by the law of one price as it affects
the four factors discussed.

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 Chapter Summary (cont.)
 Exchange Rates in the Short Run: short-run
rates are determined by the demand for
assets denominated in both domestic and
foreign currencies.
 Explaining Changes in Exchange Rates:
factors leading to shifts in the demand and
supply schedules were explored.

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