Value Changes in National Currency in Foreign-Dependent Economies & Turkey Example in the Context of Crises

In this paper, the status of devaluation realized in general economic policies to decrease current account deficit and increase exports in terms of increasing or not decreasing current account deficit is defined and used as the "Devaluation Paradox." In this context, in this paper, the effects of devaluation, inflation, unemployment, and current account deficit variables on national currency in foreign-dependent economies have been investigated. For this purpose, changes that took place before and after devaluation have been compared. The change in the value of the Turkish Lira and its relation to inflation in the COVID-19 process have been evaluated with Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) data. In addition, it has been aimed to reveal the relationship of national currency value with import and outflow of foreign currency. Within the scope of Turkey's example, based on the effects experienced in the COVID-19 process, the changes in the national currency, increases in the general level of prices and transformation in unemployment have been evaluated. As a result, it has been tried to demonstrate the negative effects of foreign dependency on production and consumption, considering it an experience from which lessons should be taken regarding the global economic crisis process resulting from the pandemic. This paper aimed to reach optimal recommendations for determining economic policies, which need to be revised.

Devalued labour, COVID-19, and the problem of profitability: crises of seniors care in Shanghai, China and British Columbia, Canada

While differences exist in the organization of seniors care in Shanghai and British Columbia, both systems exhibit the simultaneous devaluation of, and reliance on, feminized labour. In this paper, we argue that COVID-19 highlighted underlying crisis tendencies built into the profit models in both increasingly privatized systems. The crisis of seniors care cannot be addressed without fundamental changes to the way care labour is valued, which in turn requires the true politicization of seniors care. This paper is part of the SPE Theme on the Political Economy of COVID-19.

On Measuring the Impact of Internal Devaluation in Greece: Poverty, Flexibility, Migration and Growthless Employment

This article takes a critical view on austerity policy and examines its social and economic consequences for the case of Greece. By introducing the concept of “growthless employment” it demonstrates that the implementation of internal devaluation policies had a substantial impact on the Greek society that needs to be addressed. Within a decade, household disposable income was reduced to an unprecedented level while the labour market was extensively deregulated as several indicators can display. The seemingly paradoxical case of employment without growth—hence, growthless employment—can be interpreted as the consequence of the intensity of the mix of austerity policies that was imposed as “one-size-fits-all” without taking the peculiar structure of the Greek economy into account. A descriptive examination of this idiosyncratic state of affairs is offered, providing new insights on how the level of depreciation can be better assessed. It is argued that the overall severity of the crisis is better captured by the level of disposable income whereas a modified measurement of poverty and income depreciation is introduced for the same purpose. Lastly it is maintained that Greece has suffered by an enormous outflow of its productive-aged population in the aftermath of the crisis. All the above concretise the idea of growthless employment in Greece.

The Attractiveness of Masked Faces Is Influenced by Race and Mask Attitudes.

This study tests the influence of wearing a protective face mask on the perceived attractiveness of the wearer. Participants who identified as White, and who varied in their ideological stance toward mask wearing, rated the attractiveness of facial photographs. The photos varied in baseline attractiveness (low, medium, and high), race (White and Asian), and whether or not the face was wearing a protective mask. Attitudes regarding protective masks were measured after the rating task using a survey to identify participants as either pro- or anti-mask. The results showed that masked individuals of the same race were generally rated as more attractive than unmasked individuals, but that masked individuals of another race were rated as less attractive than unmasked individuals. Moreover, pro-mask participants rated masked individuals as generally more attractive than unmasked individuals, whereas anti-maskers rated masked individuals as less attractive. A control experiment, replicating the procedure but replacing the protective masks with a partially occluding notebook, showed that these effects were mask-specific. These results demonstrate that perceived attractiveness is affected by characteristics of the viewer (attitudes toward protective masks), their relationship to the target (same or different race), and by circumstances external to both (pandemic).

Export restrictions under the pandemic shock: implications for the competitiveness of wheat production in Russia

As a wheat exporter, Russia ranks first in the world. Almost half of domestic wheat production is exported due to its competitiveness characterized by the relatively high level of comparative advantage. According to the study in the context of export parity and significant export volumes, domestic wheat prices follow world market prices and largely depend on major importers' demand. Global wheat prices have been rising consistently over the past months caused by the recovery in Chinese economy, adverse weather conditions, disruptions in food value chains and liquidity injections in the USA and EU economies to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. To restrain the rise in domestic prices, Russian government decided to introduced a floating export duty on wheat. This mechanism in the context of high world grain prices, economic stagnation, shrinking disposable incomes and increased risks of further devaluation of the national currency would lead to deterioration of the financial and economic situation, reduction of investment opportunities and technological lagging of Russian wheat producers behind their competitors in the world market. In this respect, Russian government efforts should be focused on increasing production and improving the competitiveness of wheat instead of restricting exports. A comprehensive set of measures regulating the wheat market also implies subsidizing wheat consumers, support for the development of transport and logistics infrastructure, and targeted assistance to vulnerable groups of the population. Such approaches would support grain consumers while respecting the interests of producers and exporters, thereby helping to achieve the national agri-food export target of USD 45 billion in the coming ten years.

Do economic crises cause trading in Bitcoin?

Purpose The paper provides new evidence for Bitcoin's safe-haven property by examining the relationship between currency price, return and Bitcoin trading volume. Design/methodology/approach A unique dataset from a person-to-person (p2p) exchange is used to investigate association between Bitcoin trading volume and currency prices. Currency returns are used to identify local economic crises, the 8 crisis affected currencies are Venezuela Bolivar (VES), Iranian Rial (IRR), Ukrainian Hryvnia (UAH), Argentine Peso (ARS), Egyptian Pound (EGP), Nigerian Naira (NGN), Turkish Lira (TRY) and Kazakhstani Tenge (KZT). Findings The paper demonstrates that local economic crises are positively associated with increased Bitcoin trading. There is a negative association between trading volume and currency value (and return), suggesting low currency price and currency depreciation are accompanied with increased Bitcoin trading. The results not only hold for the crisis affected currencies but also currencies of advanced economies. Granger causality test also reinforces the negative association results. Originality/value The finding indicates some forms of flight-to-safety have occurred during local market crises when capital flight from domestic markets to Bitcoin, strengthening Bitcoin's hedging asset status. However, total global trading volume declines after the start of the COVID pandemic, suggesting that Bitcoin is still regarded as a speculative asset. Overall, the findings show that Bitcoin is a hedging asset to protect against local currency depreciation, but not a safe-haven asset for the global crisis.

In the hands of the beholder: Wearing a COVID-19 mask is associated with its attractiveness.

Protective facial masks reduce the spread of COVID-19 infection and save lives. Yet a substantial number of people have been resistant to wearing them. Considerable effort has been invested in convincing people to put on a mask, if not for their own sake than for those more vulnerable. Social and cognitive psychologists know that use and liking go both ways: people use what they like, and they like what they use. Here we asked whether positive attitudes towards facial masks were higher in those who had been wearing them longer. We asked participants in a diverse sample (N = 498 from five countries and more than 30 US states) to rate how attractive and emotionally arousing masks and other objects associated with COVID-19 were in comparison to neutral objects, as well as reporting on their mask-wearing habits. To confirm reliability of findings, the experiment was repeated in a subset of participants 8-10 weeks later. The findings show that regular use of protective masks was linked to their positive appraisal, with a higher frequency and a longer history of wearing a mask predicting increased mask attractiveness. These results extended to other COVID-related objects relative to controls. They also provide critical ecological validity for the idea that emotional appraisal of everyday objects is associated with our experience of using them. Practically, they imply that societal measures to encourage mask wearing may have contributed to positive emotional appraisals in those who put them on, whether due to personal choice or societal pressure.