Currency
a currency (mittelhochdt of. werunge: „Guarantee “) is in the broadly formulated sense the nationally regulated monetary system of a country, in particular the definition of the Münz and note system. Most currencies are acted at the international foreign exchange markets. The price forming there calls oneself oneas rate of exchange.
At present it gives world-wide over 160 official currencies. The two most common are the US Dollar and the euro.
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kinds of currencies
since the abolition of the gold reserve for the US Dollar 1971 by the US president at that time Richard Nixon are nearly all currencies Fiats money; that is uncovered, worth-unstable money.In the course of history for the Vitalisierung and stabilization of regional economic circulations additionally complementary currencies developed, which particularly win today in the course of the progressive globalization at meaning. The production and emission of these currencies take place not via central banks, but from regional usedInstitutions or initiatives.
legal regulations
currencies are published by an emitter. Usually it concerns thereby a nationally assigned central bank. It is usually legally assigned the production and the emission of the currency.Their vordergründige task is thereby in most countries to steer the money supply in such a way that a price stability can be ensured.
The currency conceived as legal tender is usually equipped with an acceptance obligation within the state. Thus you becomeWorth as currencies ensures. Historically regarded, the guarantee is probably derived from the guaranteed precious metal content of the old coins .
currency symbols
for many currencies become - not only on notes, course coins and cheques - own characters or abbreviations,the currency symbols of a currency uses, for example:
- £ for the currencies Pound and Lira
- $ for a whole set of currencies, and. A. US dollar
- ¥ for Yen and Yuan
- € for euro
of the Binnenwert of a currency (z. B.Euro) indicates, how much can acquire at goods and services one in the euro zone for a certain money. The national characteristics ensure for the fact that the prices are alike well comparably, but not everywhere.
international currency trade
Due to the increasing international entwinement the international trade with currencies at the foreign exchange markets gained in the last decades strongly significance. Currencies at the foreign exchange markets are acted both for speculative purposes and too material-economically begündeten exchange purposes.
Therein the context of the exchange of a currency into another transaction costs develop, which in opinion of some economists make the economic integration more difficult, in the last decades a set of monetary unions developed (z. B. the European monetary union).
For current coursesand the German Federal Bank the foreign exchange rate statistics publishes additional information to the individual countries as statistic supplement to the monthly report. In the international currency trade the individual currencies are shortened in accordance with the ISO standard 4217
international meaning of currencies
| Currency | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Dollar | 66.6% | 66.9% | 63.5% | 63.8% | approx. 66% |
| euro | 16.3% | 16.7% | 19.3% | 19.7% | approx. 25% |
| Yen | 6.2% | 5.5% | 5.2% | 4.8% | ? % |
| Pound of Sterling | 3.8% | 4.0% | 4.4% | 4.4% | ? % |
| Swiss Franconia | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.4% | ? % |
| other one | 6.6% | 6.4% | 7.1% | 6.8% | ? To % |
see major item key currency
the international meaning of a currency can be measured in what respect it as transaction and reserve currency used of the acting participantsbecomes. At present the US Dollar is the world-wide most important key currency. It is called of some economists even world currency. The currency secondarymost important in the international comparison is the euro.
see also
literature
- European central bank: Review OF the internationally Role OF the euro (pdf, 900 KB), Frankfurt 2005
