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    Read more about International Finance: Theory and Policy

    International Finance: Theory and Policy

    (4 reviews)

    Steve Suranovic, George Washington University

    Copyright Year:

    ISBN 13: 9781936126460

    Publisher: Saylor Foundation

    Language: English

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    CC BY-NC-SA

    Reviews

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    Reviewed by Rajeeb Poudel, Assistant Professor, Western Oregon University on 6/16/21

    The book does cover most of the concepts. It gives due justice to concepts such as Trade Imbalances, Purchasing Power Parity, Interest Rate Parity, Interest Rate Determination, Fixed and Floating Exchange Rates, and Interest Arbitrages. Some of... read more

    Reviewed by Yihong Xiao, Assistant Professor, Bridgewater State University on 6/29/20

    This textbook provides thorough explanations of various topics, such as trade imbalance, exchange rate systems, IRP, and PPP, etc. However, it does not cover the exchange rate risk management, which is a major part that I usually cover in my course. read more

    Reviewed by Lina Zhou, Associate Professor, Augustana College on 11/13/18

    The textbook covers almost all the content that I usually cover in my International Finance class. I wish the specific chapter/section's content would be more comprehensive. For example, for the balance of payments account, I prefer that students... read more

    Reviewed by Mark Gibson, Clinical Assistant Professor, Washington State University on 6/20/17

    The text is fairly comprehensive. It covers all the major areas of international finance and uses standard economic concepts and models. I think students would enjoy the chapter discussing the welfare effects of trade imbalances, which is well... read more

    Table of Contents

    • Chapter 1: Introductory Finance Issues: Current Patterns, Past History, and International Institutions
    • Chapter 2: National Income and the Balance of Payments Accounts
    • Chapter 3: The Whole Truth about Trade Imbalances
    • Chapter 4: Foreign Exchange Markets and Rates of Return
    • Chapter 5: Interest Rate Parity
    • Chapter 6: Purchasing Power Parity
    • Chapter 7: Interest Rate Determination
    • Chapter 8: National Output Determination
    • Chapter 9: The AA-DD Model
    • Chapter 10: Policy Effects with Floating Exchange Rates
    • Chapter 11: Fixed Exchange Rates
    • Chapter 12: Policy Effects with Fixed Exchange Rates
    • Chapter 13: Fixed versus Floating Exchange Rates

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    About the Book

    International Finance Theory and Policy is built on Steve Suranovic's belief that to understand the international economy, students need to learn how economic models are applied to real world problems. It is true what they say, that ”economists do it with models.“ That's because economic models provide insights about the world that are simply not obtainable solely by discussion of the issues.

    International Finance Theory and Policy develops a unified model of the international macroeconomy. The text provides detailed descriptions of major macroeconomic variables, covers the interest rate parity and purchasing power parity theories of exchange rate determination, takes an exhaustive look at the pros and cons of trade imbalances and presents the well-known AA-DD model to explore the effects of fiscal and monetary policy under both fixed and flexible exchange rates.

    The models are developed, not by employing advanced mathematics, but rather by walking students through a detailed description of how a model's assumptions influence its conclusions. But more importantly, each model and theory is connected to real world policy issues.

    The Finance Text has the following unique features: o Begins with an historical overview of the international macroeconomy to provide context for the theory. o Concludes with a detailed discussion of the pros and cons of fixed and floating exchange rate systems. o Provides an extensive look at the issue of trade imbalances. Readers learn techniques to evaluate whether a country's trade deficit (or surplus) is dangerous, beneficial, or benign. o Explains how purchasing power parity is used to make cross country income comparisons. o Offers clear detailed explanations of the AA-DD model. o Applies the AA-DD model to understand the effects of monetary and fiscal policy on GDP, the exchange rate, and the trade balance.

    International Finance Theory and Policy by Steve Suranovic is intended for a one-semester course in International Finance. After March 2010, you can check out the entire book online or request a desk copy.

    About the Contributors

    Author

    Steve Suranovic is an associate professor of economics and international affairs at the George Washington University (GW) in Washington, DC. He has a PhD in economics from Cornell University and a BS in mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been teaching international trade and finance for more than twenty years at GW and as an adjunct for Cornell University’s Washington, DC, program. In fall 2002, he taught at Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, as a visiting Fulbright lecturer. He has taught a GW class at Fudan University in Shanghai during the summers of 2009 and 2010. He has also spoken to business, government, and academic audiences in Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, China, and Mongolia as part of the U.S. State Department speaker’s programs.

    His research focuses on two areas: international trade policy and behavioral economics. With respect to behavior, he examines why people choose to do things that many observers view as irrational. Examples include addiction to cigarettes, cyclical dieting, and anorexia. His research shows that dangerous behaviors can be explained as the outcome of a reasoned and rational optimization exercise. With respect to trade policy, his research seeks to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of arguments supporting various policy options. The goal is to answer the question, what trade policies should a country implement? More generally, he applies the economic analytical method to identify the policies that can attract the most widespread support.

    His book A Moderate Compromise: Economic Policy Choice in an Era of Globalization will be released by Palgrave Macmillan in fall 2010. In it he offers a critique of current methods to evaluate and choose policies and suggests a simple, principled, and moderate alternative.

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