The New Zealand dollar to U.S. dollar exchange rate is 1.38, and the British pound to U.S. dollar exchange rate is 0.65. If you find that the British pound to New Zealand dollar is trading at 0.5, what would be the riskless profit per U.S. dollar invested?

Short Answer

Expert verified

The riskless profit per U.S. dollar invested is1.0748.

Step by step solution

01

Concept Introduction 

The exchange rate is the rate at which domestic currency is exchanged with foreign currency. The exchange rate provides the relative price of fine in terms of domestic and foreign currency. rate is extremely volatile and it affects the economy's foreign trade. rate may be calculated as:

Exchange Rateet=Foreign pricelevelPtDomesticPricelevelPd

02

Explanation of solution

The exchange rate of the New Zealand dollar and US dollar is 1.36.

The exchange rate of the British pound and New Zealand dollars is 0.49.

Calculation of value of New Zealand dollars in British pound:

Value of New Zealand dollars in British pound=0.49×1.361=0.6664CalculationofvalueofUSdollarsinBritishpound:Value of US dollar in British pound=0.6664×10.62=1.0748

Investment in US dollar assets is useful to earn riskless profits. To earn riskless profit an investor has to arbitrage. Firstly, exchange $1 into 1.36 New Zealand dollars, then exchange 1.36 New Zealand dollars into 0.6664 British pounds. Lastly, exchange 0.6664 British pounds into 1.0748 US dollars.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Go to the St. Louis Federal Reserve FRED database, and find data on the daily dollar exchange rates for the euro (DEXUSEU), British pound (DEXUSUK), and Japanese yen (DEXJPUS). Also find data on the daily three-month London Interbank Offer Rate, or LIBOR, for the United States dollar (USD3MTD156N), euro (EUR3MTD156N), British pound (GBP3MTD156N), and Japanese yen (JPY3MTD156N). LIBOR is a measure of interest rates denominated in each country’s respective currency.

a. Calculate the difference between the LIBOR rate in the United States and the LIBOR rates in the three other countries using the data from one year ago and the most recent data available.

b. Based on the changes in interest rate differentials, do you expect the dollar to depreciate or appreciate against the other currencies?

c. Report the percentage change in the exchange rates over the past year. Are the results you predicted in part (b) consistent with the actual exchange rate behavior?

Suppose the president of the United States announces

a new set of reforms that includes a new anti-inflation

program. Assuming the announcement is believed by

the public, what will happen to the exchange rate on

the U.S. dollar?

Go to the website that contains the most recent calculations of the Economist’s Big Mac Index, http://www .economist.com/content/big-mac-index.

a. Plot the relationship between the local price of a Big Mac and the actual exchange rate. Does this plot suggest that there is a close relationship between the local price and the actual exchange rate? Does this suggest that the theory of PPP has some validity? Explain why.

b. Does your evidence above indicate that PPP is a good theory for exchange rates in the short run?

c. Which country’s currency is the most overvalued in terms of purchasing power parity? Is it expensive or cheap to shop there?

d. Which country’s currency is the most undervalued in terms of purchasing power parity? Is it expensive or cheap to shop there?

If the Indian government unexpectedly announces that it will be imposing higher tariffs on foreign goods one year from now, what will happen to the value of the Indian rupee today?

If nominal interest rates in America rise but real interest rates fall, predict what will happen to the U.S. dollar exchange rate.

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