The Chinese renminbi: what’s real, what’s not

China's recent devaluation and liberalization of its exchange-rate policies will, at best, have only a temporary impact on its trade competitiveness with the United States. The type of exchange-rate regime that a country adopts matters little for its long-term international competitiveness. In addition, the recent focus on China's exchange rate diverts attention from the real problem: China’s command economy.Foreign exchange rates - China

Nondeliverable forwards: can we tell where the renminbi is headed?

Since the early 1990s, international banks have been offering nondeliverable forward (NDF) contracts to clients who need to hedge exposures in currencies of emerging-market economies. Many also use the exchange rate on these contracts as a best guess of where the emerging-market currency is headed. The exchange rates on NDFs, however, likely embody a substantial risk premium that interferes with forecasting accuracy.Foreign exchange rates - China

Walking on a fence: Brazil’s public-sector debt

Brazil is walking on a fence between sustainable and unsustainable public-debt dynamics. How it treads could affect not only its own economic prosperity but that of its neighbors, emerging markets in general, and U.S. financial institutions in particular. Relatively small improvements in Brazilian economic conditions and a continuation of that country’s recent fiscal improvements could push Brazil in the right direction, particularly if the dollar continues to depreciate.Debts, Public - Brazil ; Economic conditions - Brazil

Proceeding from China to Jerusalem

...Anyways, I think God\u27s doing some exciting things in China, and some of you have been there. So some of you know, those of you who have been to China or know something about China

Oil prices: backward to the future?

A useful first guess about the future spot price of a commodity is usually found in its current futures price. But it doesn’t work that way when the commodity in question is oil. This Commentary explains why the characteristics of oil, particularly the value it can offer its owner by remaining in the ground, cloud the information that oil futures prices give about future oil prices.Petroleum industry and trade ; Futures

THE EFFECTS OF USING A CRITICAL THINKING GRAPHIC ORGANIZER TO IMPROVE CONNECTICUT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE TEST INTERDISCIPLINARY WRITING ASSESSMENT SCORES

Effective communication skills are a vital component of student academic achievement and success, yet students often struggle with them. This study utilized an organizational writing graphic organizer based on a critical thinking model to determine the impact of its use on the persuasive writing scores of 9th-grade students. A sample of convenience, 119 ninth grade students across three academic levels (Academic, College Preparatory, and Honors) attending a suburban high school in the Northeast was utilized. Students in the treatment condition utilized a critical thinking graphic organizer to write persuasive essays over a 12-week period, and students in the comparison condition wrote persuasive essays during the same time period using a traditional graphic organizer, with less of a focus on critical thinking, provided by the state. A quasi-experimental pretest posttest design was utilized to analyze quantitative data collected through practice assessments. Focus groups were conducted using teachers and also students from the treatment group whose scores had improved. Data were analyzed using a Mann-Whitney analysis to determine if there was a significant difference in the mean practice CAPT Writing Across the Disciplines persuasive essay scores between students who used the critical thinking graphic organizer (treatment group) and students who used the traditional state organizer (comparison group). Qualitative coding methods were used to analyze focus group responses for themes and patterns associated with student and teacher perceptions through their exposure and work with the critical thinking graphic organizer. The results revealed that there was no significant difference in persuasive writing scores between the treatment and comparison groups. However, a qualitative analysis of teacher and student perceptions revealed that participants were favorable towards the use of the critical thinking graphic organizer

Option prices, exchange market intervention, and the higher moment expectations channel: a user’s guide

A vast literature on the effects of sterilized intervention by the monetary authorities in the foreign exchange markets concludes that intervention systematically moves the spot exchange rate only if it is publicly announced, coordinated across countries, and consistent with the underlying stance of fiscal and monetary policy. Over the past fifteen years, researchers have also attempted to determine if intervention has any effects on the dispersion and directionality of market views concerning the future exchange rate. These studies usually focus on the variance around the expected future exchange rate—the second moment. In this paper we demonstrate how to use over-the-counter option prices to recover the risk-neutral probability density function (PDF) for the future exchange rate. Using the yen/dollar exchange rate as an example, we calculate measures of dispersion and directionality, such as variance and skewness, from estimated PDFs to test whether intervention by the Japanese Ministry of Finance had any impact on the higher moments of the exchange rate. We find little or no systematic effect, consistent with the findings of the literature on the spot rate as Japanese intervention during the period 1996-2004 was not publicly announced, rarely coordinated across countries and, in hindsight, probably inconsistent with the underlying stance of monetary policy.Options (Finance) ; Foreign exchange administration

Monitoring and analysing attendance in first year university mathematics tutorials

As part of an innovative tutorial structure introduced to a first year university mathematics subject, an attendance monitoring system was implemented. The system collected data that was used to investigate the relationship between student attendance and assessment performance which is reported here. The implementation of this system also assisted in the increase of student participation and engagement