216. Suppose the exchange between England and the United States to be heavily against England, how will this fact affect the export and import trade between the two countries, and why?
217. What is meant by exchanges being against a country?
218. Enumerate the principal circumstances which affect the rate of exchange between two countries. How is the par of exchange ascertained?
219. In what way are gold and silver distributed among the different trading countries? Between different parts of the same country?
220. Trace the effects of large and continuous issues of inconvertible paper currency on the prices of commodities, on importation and exportation, and on the foreign exchanges.
221. State the conditions under which international trade can permanently exist. What will be the ultimate effect of a large movement of foreign gold upon prices, imports, and exports in the receiving country?
222. State the theory of the value of money (i.e., “metallic money”), and clear up any apparent inconsistencies between the following statements: (1.) The value of money depends on the cost of production at the worst mines; (2.) The value of money varies inversely as its quantity multiplied by its rapidity of circulation; (3.) The countries whose products are most in demand abroad and contain the greatest value in the smallest bulk, which are nearest the mines and have the least demand for foreign productions, are those in which money will be of lowest value.
228. The effects of the depreciation of the paper currency in the United States are thus described by Mr. Wells: “It renders it impossible to sell abroad the products which have cost too much at home, and invites from other countries the products of a cheaper labor paid for in a sounder currency. It exaggerates imports, while destroying our ability to pay in kind.” State how far you agree with the deductions here drawn, assigning your reasons where you differ.
224. When the foreign exchanges are manifestly against a country, and a balance of indebtedness is the cause, the equilibrium can be restored in two ways. State and explain the operation of each.
225. What are the conditions which determine for a country a high range of general prices? How far is this advantageous?