RMB Internationalisation and Currency Co-operation in East Asia

This paper scrutinises the state of RMB internationalisation and its likely progress over the coming years and discusses its implications for currency co-operation in East Asia. As part of its internationalisation, the RMB is gradually delinked from the dollar, which will effectively put an end to the East Asian dollar standard that has shaped the region's financial architecture over the last three decades and that has provided a relatively high degree of intra-regional exchange rate stability. Because of the close trade and investment ties that have developed across the region, the East Asian countries, especially the ASEAN countries which are striving to create an ASEAN Economic Community, will continue to manage their exchange rates and stabilise their currencies against one another to facilitate cross-border investment and commerce. But instead of a replacing of the dollar standard with an RMB standard we are likely to see some rather loose and informal exchange rate co-operation in East Asia based on currency baskets, with China herself moving towards a managed exchange rate system guided by a currency basket

European Financial Integration and the Financing of Local Businesses in the New EU Member States

This paper explores the degree of financial market integration between the new and old EU member states. It also considers the likely effects of the ongoing integration process on the new members’ financial sectors. In particular, the paper discusses the implications of the high concentration of financial services and the dominance of foreign-owned institutions for the provision of financial services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the ten accession countries. Using enterprise data on 2,427 firms, the paper finds that access to finance still constitutes a major problem for business development and that financing conditions are considerably more difficult for SMEs than for larger entities

Economic Cooperation in ASEAN and the Rise of China

Over the past decade, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has shifted from its original focus on regional peace and stability toward embracing a progressively economics-dominated agenda. A multitude of initiatives concerning cooperation in the areas of trade and finance have been launched. At the 2003 ASEAN Summit in Bali, ASEAN leaders even declared the goal of establishing an ASEAN Economic Community by 2020. This paper discusses two factors that have contributed to ASEAN's increasing focus on economic cooperation: (1) the Asian financial crisis, and (2) the emergence of China as a major international and economic power. It is argued that these determinants have paved the way for closer economic cooperation within the region despite the great heterogeneity and conflicting interests of the ASEAN member countries

Lex Orandi, Lex Operandi: The Relationship of Worship and Work in the Early Church

(Excerpt) We are all familiar with the famous dictum of Prosper of Aquitaine, who in the fifth century coined the axiom, lex orandi, lex credendi. I propose a variation on this principle by suggesting lex orandi, lex operandi, the law of prayer gives birth to the law of works, and my test case will be the early church before Gregory the Great. To take each of these themes separately would be a simple task. We are all familiar with early Christian treatises on worship and the histories of worship. We also possess numerous commentaries on early Christian attitudes toward society and the evidence of faith resulting in actions in and towards the world