(精选)商务英语综合教程(下册)Unit 12 Foreign Exchange Trading课件.pptVIP

Unit Twelve ;Introduction; Text ; 1 Without foreign exchange trading, international trade itself could not exist. In former times trade was based on bartering—goods were exchanged for other goods. The introduction of precious metals (i.e., gold and silver) to pay for goods can be considered the forerunner of the foreign exchange market.; was the only country whose currency remained convertible into gold, and so, by declaring the dollar inconvertible, the gold standard was finally abolished. This meant that holders of United States dollars could no longer exchange their dollars for gold at par value. 4 In 1944 toward the end of World War II, the Western industrialized nations realized that foreign trade would be necessary to quickly and effectively heal the wounds of war. To create a calm and stable foreign exchange market, the United States government called;for a conference in the summer of 1944. It was held in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire. At this conference, both the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development were established. 5 The Bretton Woods Agreement stipulated that all member countries would express the value of their currencies in gold. However, only the United States dollar was convertible into gold, at the price of $35 an ounce.; 6 Central banks of the member countries were required to intervene in the foreign exchange markets to keep the value of their currencies within 1 percent of the par value. This intervention was achieved by buying or selling foreign exchange or gold. A given currency could, therefore, never rise above nor fall below fixed points, which are called intervention points. There are the prices beyond which the central bank intervenes. This is called the system of fixed exchange rates. ; 7 The system of fixed exchange rates worked well until the late1960s and early 1970s. At that time a number of countries devalued their curr