83
votes
Accepted
Why does PRC devalue its currency on purpose, but Turkey is worried about the devaluation of its currency?
Trade surplus/deficit
Devaluing one's currency means mostly one thing: It becomes more expensive to import products from abroad, while one's own products become comparably cheaper to buy on the world ...
- 74.8k
70
votes
Why is Russia limiting its gas supply to the EU instead of stopping it altogether?
I am no expert on this by any means, but my thought as to why:
If Russia completely cuts off the gas now, they lose leverage. That is, once the gas is completely cut off, they can no longer threaten ...
- 581
62
votes
Accepted
What does Putin/Russia gain from only accepting payment for gas in Rubles?
It benefits Russia by forcing gas customers to purchase rubles at unfavourable rates, rather than Russian gas suppliers. At the moment, since President Putin enacted a decree obligating exporters to ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
55
votes
How is printing money different from taxing people?
I can see one difference between taxing the people and printing currency. Taxing the people only takes money away from the people in that country, as the people outside the country don't have to pay ...
49
votes
Why did Russia have their foreign currency reserves in overseas banks?
You cannot really "store" lots of money in the physical sense. Money is an entitlement to benefits in the future and mostly is just numbers in some computers and typically there is always a ...
- 9,606
47
votes
Accepted
Will the UK replace its banknotes and coins now there is a new monarch?
Yes, but not quickly
New designs of coins and notes from now on will have Charles' picture, but existing designs of coins will continue to circulate until they are withdrawn as worn out.
Notes will be ...
- 9,829
44
votes
Accepted
What is currently stopping the most developed states from completely abandoning cash?
It's mainly because there will always be people who do not have credit cards and still uses cash, for example, 96% in Sweden in the article that you cited. 4% is still a relatively huge number.
This ...
- 46.5k
43
votes
How is printing money different from taxing people?
Taxation
Taxes are usually paid on some sort of economic activity (earning income, purchasing goods or services, etc). In other words, they have value because the underlying activity has value. In ...
- 45.6k
40
votes
Accepted
ELI5: Why is Russia's requirement for oil to be paid in Roubles abnormal?
Because the contracts stipulated payments in other currencies (euros, dollars), not roubles.
i.e. all your other arguments are superseded by the fact that these were not the contractual commitments ...
39
votes
Accepted
Why do US police treat using counterfeit money as an emergency?
The case of George Floyd is that he was accused of passing a counterfeit $20
Floyd allegedly used a counterfeit bill to buy cigarettes at the convenience store last week. The clerk reported it to ...
- 45.6k
38
votes
Why is Russia limiting its gas supply to the EU instead of stopping it altogether?
Russian Federation leadership really likes bargaining and under-the-table agreements ("схематоз" in Russian).
Gas supply is a good field for such agreements so by keeping it, RF encourages ...
- 13.9k
36
votes
How do governments keep track of their issued currency?
Bank notes have serial numbers. The mint keeps track of what's been issued, and also the quantity of notes that have been taken out of circulation and destroyed.
Back accounts are another matter. In ...
- 22k
35
votes
What is currently stopping the most developed states from completely abandoning cash?
There's many downsides and reasons.
Some areas have no reliable electricity. You need electricity to run CC transactions.
Some areas have no reliable telecom infrastructure. You need a telecom ...
- 91.8k
35
votes
Why is using the euro instead of a local currency such a big deal and why is the wealth of the society an argument?
Investopedia has an article about why some countries prefer not to use the Euro. Countries with their own national currencies may have several advantages in managing economic problems:
"They ...
- 14.8k
32
votes
Accepted
How do central banks outside the U.S. issue USD?
TL;DR: Not being able to issue USD is the point of it.
The full discussion can be found in Wikipedia article Currency substitution.
The main disadvantage of the currency substitution (i.e., using ...
- 11.8k
29
votes
Why do tourists have to declare $10,000 or more entering some countries?
This requirement is usually in place to combat money laundering and tax evasion. The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, an international organization, has a series of recommendations for ...
- 2,542
28
votes
What does Putin/Russia gain from only accepting payment for gas in Rubles?
It flips the sanctions risk target
Currently, the money paid by western customers is in the matching western bank accounts of the (yet) unsanctioned Russian banks. That money can be unilaterally ...
- 2,302
28
votes
How is printing money different from taxing people?
Even allowing for similarities, the two differ in at least one important aspect:
The government controls its taxes, assuming it is efficient in collections. Therefore it can lower taxes rather ...
27
votes
Why do US police treat using counterfeit money as an emergency?
The fact that officers showed up promptly in person doesn't necessarily mean that they considered it an emergency. It means that they had the people available to respond and prioritized doing so over ...
- 1,114
26
votes
Accepted
Has any government throughout history banned foreign currencies?
This has happened a few times before, and is usually a rather extreme measure used to promote the use of, and trust in, local currency, as opposed to transactions being conducted using a more stable ...
CDJB♦
- 105k
26
votes
Is the Ruble exchange rate a reliable indicator of economic stability in Russia?
Exchange rate is not an indicator (or a very poor one) of economic well-being:
it can be controlled by a central bank, via increasing money supply ("printing money", although nowadays it is ...
- 11.8k
25
votes
Accepted
Can the president put his own likeness on money?
As per U.S. Code › Title 31 › Subtitle IV › Chapter 51 › Subchapter II › § 5114 ("31 U.S. Code § 5114 - Engraving and printing currency and security documents")
(b) ... Only the portrait of a ...
- 91.8k
22
votes
Accepted
Does currency exist in communism?
Officially no; in some systems possibly yes; and in practice yes.
By currency in the term of legal tender, a fully-communist system should not have currency for the reasons that you point out. That ...
- 865
20
votes
What is currently stopping the most developed states from completely abandoning cash?
I wonder that people did not mention the most dangerous reason.
If there is no cash and every transaction need an account, you
can harass, threaten or even bankrupt political opponents. If every good
...
- 4,692
20
votes
Accepted
Why is Recep Tayyip Erdoğan allowing the Turkish Lira to plunge?
Lowering interest rates makes it easier to borrow money. This allows businesses to grow using borrowed money, without having to pay high interest rates.
The question assumes that allowing your ...
- 1,118
20
votes
Why is Russia limiting its gas supply to the EU instead of stopping it altogether?
It is the same reason OPEC is limiting its oil exports: smaller amounts at higher prices can mean more profit.
If you look at German imports of Russian fossil energy in 2021-22, you can see that the ...
- 5,985
19
votes
Accepted
Why do some African countries use the CFA franc if it means that they need to pay France money to be able to print money for their economies?
Depositing is not exactly “paying”. In fact, the Banque de France paid interest on that money and is currently transferring it back to African central banks (as part of a broader transition out of the ...
- 30.5k
19
votes
Why did Russia have their foreign currency reserves in overseas banks?
In fact, foreign currency reserves almost have to be held elsewhere, usually as government securities or deposits at foreign central banks or at the Bank for International Settlements. You could ...
- 30.5k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible