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It also describes the role of key international institutions such as the IMF. Overall, it moves from the single-country focus of other finance modules and gives students an international perspective on finance. Such a perspective is vital for students planning to work at international institutions or firms.

Topics covered

• The Balance of Payments
• PPP and the Real Exchange Rate
• The Monetary Model & Overshooting
• The Forex (FX) Market
• FX Microstructure & Derivatives
• Efficiency of the FX market
• FX Intervention and Reserves
• FX Policy Regimes
• Financial Globalisation and FX Crises
• Sovereign Debt and Default

Learning outcomes

If you complete the module successfully, you should be able to:

• understand and describe how international capital flows are measured and determined.
• explain foreign exchange trading in spot, forward, swaps and derivative markets.
• articulate and evaluate issues arising from the use of different foreign exchange policies.
• demonstrate knowledge of foreign exchange trading conventions and their interpretations.
• reason critically with respect to alternative foreign exchange trading strategies and choose the best strategy according a set of information available.
• change a strategy once the set of information changes.
• create the most suited set of information for the decision-making process.
• utilise real-time data to estimate and monitor foreign exchange markets and capital flows.
• utilise professional financial tools and case studies to support decisions.
• work both independently and in teams to create and manage foreign exchange strategies.
• present highly technical financial material to non-practitioners simply and clearly.
• demonstrate skills to present highly technical financial material to non-practitioners simply and clearly.
• demonstrate ability to synthesise and use information and materials from a variety of different sources to support an argument.
• demonstrate use of research skills into international financial market problems and issues.

Assessment

This module is assessed by:

Coursework (50% weighting):

• There is one item of coursework for this module which contributes to the final assessment mark for this module.
• Coursework: a written essay of a maximum of 2,000 or 2,500 words (deadline – weeks 9-12) The coursework is designed to check student progress, extend and reinforce concepts covered and also test individual performance.

Examination (50% weighting):

• The final piece of assessment will be an unseen written examination of 2 hours’ duration.

Essential reading

The following is provided as part of the course materials after you register:

• Scott A, Miles D and Breedon F, Macroeconomics, Wiley, 2012