11. International economic issues
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11.1 Policies to correct disequilibrium in the balance of payments
11.1.1Balance of payments accounts
• Components of the balance of payments accounts: current account, financial account and capital account
11.1.2Policies and balance of payments
• Effect of fiscal, monetary, supply-side, protectionist and exchange rate policies on the balance of payments
11.1.3Switching vs reducing policies
• Difference between expenditure-switching and expenditure-reducing policies
11.2 Exchange rates
• Measurement of exchange rates: - distinction between nominal and real exchange rates - trade-weighted exchange rates
• Determination of exchange rates under fixed and managed systems
• Distinction between revaluation and devaluation of a fixed exchange rate
• Changes in the exchange rate under different exchange rate systems
• The effects of changing exchange rates on the external economy using Marshall-Lerner and J curve analysis
11.3 Economic development
• Classification of economies in terms of their level of development
• Classification of economies in terms of their level of national income
• Indicators of living standards and economic development: - monetary indicators including real per capita national income statistics (GDP, GNI, NNI) and purchasing power parity - issues of comparison using monetary indicators - non-monetary indicators - composite indicators: - Human Development Index (HDI) - Measure of Economic Welfare (MEW) - Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) - the Kuznets curve
• Comparison of economic growth rates and living standards: - over time - between countries
11.4 Characteristics of countries at different levels of development
• Population growth and structure: - measurement and causes of changes in birth rate, death rate, infant mortality and net migration - optimum population - level of urbanisation
• Income distribution: - calculation of Gini coefficient and Lorenz curve analysis
• Economic structure: - employment composition: primary, secondary and tertiary sectors - pattern of trade at different levels of development
11.5 Relationship between countries at different levels of development
• International aid: - forms of aid - reasons for giving aid - effects of aid - importance of aid
• Trade and investment
• Role of multinational companies (MNCs): - definition of MNC - activities of MNCs - consequences of MNCs
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): - definition of FDI - consequences of FDI
• External debt: - causes of debt - consequences of debt
• Role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
• Role of the World Bank
11.6 Globalisation
• Meaning of globalisation and its causes and consequences
• Distinction between a free trade area, a customs union, a monetary union and full economic union
• Trade creation and trade diversion