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AP®︎/College Macroeconomics
Course: AP®︎/College Macroeconomics > Unit 8
Lesson 2: Every graph used in AP MacroeconomicsThe foreign exchange market model
Understanding and creating graphs are critical skills in macroeconomics. In this article, you’ll get a quick review of the foreign exchange market model, including:
- what it’s used to illustrate
- key elements of the model
- some examples of questions that can be answered using that model.
What the foreign exchange model illustrates
Exchange rates are determined by the interaction of people who want to trade in their currency (the supply of a currency) with other people who want to obtain that currency (the demand for a currency). The foreign exchange model is a variation on a market model.
Key Features of the foreign exchange model
- A horizontal axis labeled with the quantity of the currency that is being exchanged. For example, if it’s the foreign exchange market for the Euro, the correct label would be Q, start subscript, e, u, r, o, end subscript
- A vertical axis labeled with the exchange rate of a currency. Remember that a currency is always priced in terms of some other currency.
A downward sloping demand for the currency, labeled "D, start subscript, e, u, r, o, end subscript” and an upward sloping supply of the currency, labeled "S, start subscript, e, u, r, o, end subscript"
- An equilibrium exchange rate, labeled "ER"
Helpful reminders for the foreign exchange model
Make it clear what market you are in by using the correct labels. It can be easy to confuse the money market with the currency market, since many people think of currency as money. But the money market is about willingness to hold money, not willingness to exchange money.
An example of a use of the foreign exchange model: showing the impact of deficits on exchange rates
Recall that when a government runs a budget deficit, the real interest rate will increase. A higher real interest rate will encourage savers in other countries to buy financial assets in that country. To do so, foreign savers will need to buy that country’s currency in order to buy those financial assets. As a result, the demand for the currency, and the exchange rate, increases.
For example, suppose countries in Europe ran a budget deficit, increasing real interest rates in Europe. As a result, people in Mexico would want to buy financial assets in Europe and would need euros in order to do so. As a result, the demand for the euro increases and the euro appreciates, as shown in the graph below:
Want to join the conversation?
Why does higher interest rates cause increase in demand for the currency?(2 votes)
Let's say I see that interest rates are far higher in another country (like Mexico). I look at my sad little savings account in my country and see I am only earning a half percent interest, but If I can somehow put my savings in a Mexican bank paying 12% interest, I'd be in the money! So, I call up an Mexican bank and they say they'd be happy to take my money....if its in Pesos. So, to take advantage of earning a higher interest rate in Mexico I am going to need to convert my savings to pesos. I head down to the foreign exchange market. I demand pesos, and I supply my currency to get them. Therefore, the demand for the peso increases.(41 votes)
Why does an increase in the real interest rate shift the supply curve?(1 vote)
If the interest rate increases, it becomes more beneficial for people to save their money in banks instead of investing it into firms. This decrease of investment reduces the goods that suppliers are able to supply, which is a leftwards shift of the supply curve.(1 vote)
what would be the capital abundant country(1 vote)- Do you mean a specific example of countries with a lot of capital? If so, higher income countries tend to also be capital-rich (for example, United States, Japan, United Kingdom, etc)(1 vote)
- When there's a contractionary monetary policy in place and interest rates increase, do both supply and demand curves shift in the same proportion or does the demand curve shift slightly larger than supply?(1 vote)
I'm curious why this course doesn't incorporate the IS-LM or more the Mundell-Fleming model? Is it due to complexity, requirements to meet, or a conflict with the models themselves?(0 votes)
