The Name of the Game is Money

Abstract

International finance is a game with two sets of players: the politicians and bureaucrats of national governments, and the presidents and treasurers of giant, large, medium-large, medium, medium-small, and small firms and banks and hedge funds, and other financial institutions. The government officials want to win elections and secure a niche in the histories of their countries. A few aspire to get their portraits on the national currency. And to do so, they want to be able to manage their economies to provide more jobs and better-paying jobs and financial security for their voters. They want to avoid sharp increases in inflation rates and sharp declines in the foreign exchange value of their currencies. The corporate presidents and treasurers want to profit — or at least avoid losses — from changes in exchange rates, changes that are inevitable in a world with more than 150 national currencies.