国际财务管理课后习题案chapter 3.docVIP

CHAPTER 3 BALANCE OF PAYMENTS SUGGESTED ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS TO END-OF-CHAPTER QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS QUESTIONS 1. Define the balance of payments. Answer: The balance of payments (BOP) can be defined as the statistical record of a country’s international transactions over a certain period of time presented in the form of double-entry bookkeeping. 2. Why would it be useful to examine a country’s balance of payments data? Answer: It would be useful to examine a country’s BOP for at least two reasons. First, BOP provides detailed information about the supply and demand of the country’s currency. Second, BOP data can be used to evaluate the performance of the country in international economic competition. For example, if a country is experiencing perennial BOP deficits, it may signal that the country’s industries lack competitiveness. 3. The United States has experienced continuous current account deficits since the early 1980s. What do you think are the main causes for the deficits? What would be the consequences of continuous U.S. current account deficits? Answer: The current account deficits of U.S. may have reflected a few reasons such as (I) a historically high real interest rate in the U.S., which is due to ballooning federal budget deficits, that kept the dollar strong, and (ii) weak competitiveness of the U.S. industries. 4. In contrast to the U.S., Japan has realized continuous current account surpluses. What could be the main causes for these surpluses? Is it desirable to have continuous current account surpluses? Answer: Japan’s continuous current account surpluses may have reflected a weak yen and high competitiveness of Japanese industries. Massive capital exports by Japan prevented yen from appreciating more than it did. At the same time, foreigners’ exports to Japan were hampered by closed nature of Japanese markets. Continuous current account surpluses disrupt free trade by promoting protectionist sentiment in the deficit coun