A Modern Economist's Bartering System

Forex or foreign exchange is a growing industry in- the US dollar to the Japanese Yen
the economic market. Currencies are traded forWhen the Euro became the official currency of
another, thus making the foreign exchangethe 12 of the 15 then members of the European
market the largest in terms of cash. Because ofUnion, it was pitted against the dollar. The Euro
trading between one bank to another, not toenjoyed periods of ups and downs in comparison
mention the trading between multinationalto the American dollar. As of most recent news,
corporations and government, between financialthe dollar declined to a low as opposed to the
markets and institutions, cash is abundant andEuro despite of the decline in the American deficit.
easily flows in foreign exchange trading.The fact that well-established and developed
Due to its various trading components (sincecountries have one currency as their official fiscal
there are a lot of foreign currencies in thetrading component, the Euro gets stronger than
international market over-all), the liquidity or easyever in the economic aspect.
cash flow of the market, huge bulk of tradersIt's not only the three forex capitals that play a
and a 24-7 service transaction, the foreignpart in foreign exchange trading. Markets of other
exchange market is unique and is here to stay ineconomies are free to join. In fact, even their
the competitive world of business.banks have a role to play in the big economic
The foreign exchange market is not unified. Therepicture. Commercial turn overs and large trading
is no single dollar rate. Dollar rate varies from oneare catered by international banks on a daily basis.
country to another, this is due to theSome of these banks trade their currencies for
over-the-counter or OTC transactions that isdollars.
practiced in most forex industries. There maybeCommercial companies also sought the assistance
different prices to a dollar, which is dependent onof the forex market to pay for the obtained
the bank, but generally, the rates are prettygoods and rendered services. Commercial
much close.companies may have smaller amounts of
The trading centers in Tokyo, New York andcurrency transactions as opposed to banks, but
London are the centers of foreign exchangethese trades and exchanges among commercial
trading. However, all are interconnected. Tokyocompanies are still necessary for the trading
may be the center for the Asian market, Newmarket. For example, a multinational company
York for the US and London for Europe butthat is based on various locations through out the
notice the chain of one to the other two. Forworld may have an impact in the economic
example, the US session ends, then the Europepicture as a whole when it stops participating in
session begins followed by the Asian. It is a cyclethe trading market. This is the another example
and a change from one capital can affect theof the mentioned scenario: that one capital session
other two.can affect the other two, so does one
Foreign exchange can be considered as themultinational company in any location can affect
modern economists' barter exchange. A currencythe forex trading as a whole.
of one economy can be traded to another. TheAnother example proving that countries are
most heavily traded currencies are that of:interconnected. One economy's gold is another
- the US dollar to the Euroeconomy's gain as well.