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MSc International Economics, Banking & Finance
BST261 Issues in Money, Banking & Finance, 2015
Assignment 1
Due by 15.00 Friday 20 March (online submission)
The main reading for this module is Issues in Monetary Policy (Eds) K Matthews and P Booth, Chichester: Wiley & Sons, 2006. Not all the lectures will be covered by the reading material in the book. Individual lectures will have supplementary reading associated with them.
The nature of the coursework has been, and will be, explained in tutorials.
Do one question (1900–2100 words + references)
1.

Should bankers’ bonuses be controlled as part of a package of macroprudential regulation?

2.

“Financial crisis will always be with us.” Discuss methods by which
Governments and regulatory authorities could reduce the effects of such crises, or even avoid crisis entirely. Explain fully any negative aspects to such a policy.

3.

What have been the costs and benefits of Hong Kong’s currency board system since 1983? Is it feasible to link the Hong Kong dollar to the Chinese renminbi by 2020?

4.

Does the Chinese economy behave in accordance with, or differently from, what one would predict from a standard model of a fixed exchange rate economy experiencing overall balance of payments surpluses? 5.

The integration of China and India into the global economy has doubled the size of the worldwide labour force, according to
Professor Richard Freeman. Does this change the rules of globalization and justify protectionism against China and India?

Further reading
Prof Kent Matthews: Controlling Banker's Bonuses:Efficient Regulation or Politics of Envy?
Matthews and Matthews (2009), "Controlling Banker's Bonuses: Efficient Regulation or Politics of
Envy?",
(http://business.cardiff.ac.uk/research/working-papers/controlling-banker-s-bonusesefficient-regulation-or-politics-envy)
Lecture 2, Trevor Williams challenges for the global economy in 2015
Taleb., Nassim Nicholas, Fooled by Randomness: the hidden Role of Chance in Life and the
Market, 2005
Taleb., Nassim Nicholas, The Black Swan: the impact of the Highly Improbable, New York, 2007
Andrew Smithers, Wall Street, Imperfect Markets, and Inept Central Bankers, Wiley, 2009
John Kay, The Truth About Markets, 2003
John Greenwood Hong Kong, currency boards and fixed exchange rates
Schuler, K (1996) "Should Developing Countries Have Central Banks?" Institute of Economic
Affairs Research Monograph 52. Also refer to Kurt Schuler’s website on Currency Boards &
Dollarisation http://users.erols.com/kurrency/index.html and read selections from items: Introduction to Currency Boards and Further reading, both on his home page.
Schwartz Anna J (1992), “Do Currency Boards Have a Future?” 22nd Wincott Memorial Lecture,
Institute of Economic Affairs Occasional Paper 88
Walters A (1991), “Currency Boards”, in New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, Vol. I (Eds.) J
Eatwell, M Milgate, and P Newman, Macmillan. Also reprinted in The Economics and Politics of
Money: The Selected Essays of Alan Walters (ed.) Kent Matthews, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Students should visit the website of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/ especially
Policy
Areas/Currency
Board
System http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/currency/link_ex/index.htm and Exchange Fund Balance Sheet
(under Press Releases) http://www.info.gov.hk/hkma/eng/press/index.htm
Balassa, Bela (1964) "The Purchasing Power Parity Doctrine: A Reappraisal" Journal of Political
Economy, Dec pp 584-96
John Greenwood China's Monetary Policy: From Fixed to Managed Exchange Rate
Read the latest IMF Article 4 Consultation on the PRC (especially Boxes 1, 3 & 4) at