Real exchange
Real exchange (also barter ) is in the economics an exchange contract , wherein product is exchanged for goods without cash are used. In the stock exchange , financial contracts are real exchanges if the trading object is actually delivered by the counterparty on the due date .
General
When there was no money as a means of payment in the economy or today when there was a lack of money , barter dominated the acquisition and sale of goods and services . The market price then consists of the amount with which a certain good is exchanged for another (“three goats for one cow”). The respective amount must offset each other in exchange value if the exchange is to be appropriate and fair for both exchange partners . It is necessary to find an exchange partner who offers the good that the other is looking for and, on the other hand, wants to exchange the good that the exchange partner can offer for it. In the money economy , this real exchange is split into two processes, namely the sale (exchange of goods for money) and purchase (exchange of money for the goods to be acquired).
Real exchange in offset transactions
Real exchange is one of the five types of economic transactions in which only goods or services are transferred. The reason for this today can only be a lack of money or a shortage of foreign exchange . The shortage of foreign currencies in some countries forces them to undertake compensation transactions, which are also based in whole or in part on a real exchange. A typical example was the German-Soviet tube natural gas business since February 1970, where German large tubes and bank loans were exchanged for Soviet natural gas deliveries.
Even today, developing countries with weak foreign currencies are usually the only option to import finished products from industrialized countries by exporting their raw materials in return . This way you save your foreign exchange balance . Even if market power is exploited , the developing countries usually fail to improve the terms of trade in their favor.
Real exchange in stock exchange trading
In stock exchange trading , a real exchange occurs when mutual fulfillment takes place through actual delivery on the due date of a financial contract . The one counterparty (buyer) pays the agreed money and the seller delivers the agreed trading object ( commodities , foreign exchange , precious metals , securities ). But that is not the case with all financial contracts. In the case of futures contracts , for example, only between 3% and 5% are fulfilled through delivery of the trading object; the majority is closed out because the counterparty is not interested in the trading object. Closing means that, for example, the forward buyer of green coffee sells it again on the due date through a cash sale; opposing transactions are concluded. Arbitrageurs , speculators or traders are only interested in taking profits , not in the object of trading.
In this context, it is discussed whether speculation in commodities influences commodity prices or not. Rising food prices as a result of speculation would increase poverty in emerging countries and also affect many low- income earners in industrialized countries . In an empirical analysis of the prices of agricultural commodities in the period 2006-2013 on the futures markets, economists from the Institute for the World Economy came to the conclusion in March 2014 that actors only contributed to price increases for cocoa and live cattle through their activities in the futures markets . For all other agricultural commodity markets examined, however, no influence of speculative activities on commodity prices can be proven with the applied analysis methods. The Petroleum Industry According to about 90% of but are market participants in the trading of oil futures speculation involved and have no interest in the ownership of the oil, but try from price changes gains to achieve. Even in the case of contracts for difference , the parties involved are not interested in the trade object, and there is no real exchange.
Real exchange on the black market
Real exchange is common on the black market because money has completely or partially lost its value- measuring function . In the post-war period in Germany, from May 1945, there was black market trading , in which mainly food was exchanged for everyday objects or cigarettes ( cigarette currency ). There were also hamster trips by the urban population to farmers whose agricultural products were in great demand.
Real exchange with Hans im Glück
In the Schwank Hans im Glück by the Brothers Grimm , Hans receives a head-sized lump of gold as wages for seven years of work. He later exchanges this for a horse, the horse for a cow, the cow for a pig, the pig for a goose, and he gives the goose for a grindstone with a simple field stone . He enters into unfortunate barter deals several times, because just exchanging the gold for a horse brings him economic losses, even if Hans is more concerned with the utility value . From an economic point of view, Hans was unlucky because he never received adequate consideration.
economic aspects
The real exchange “goods for goods” comes into play when the buyer suffers from a lack of money or foreign exchange or the money has lost its value measurement function, for example due to hyperinflation . The exchange partners run the risk of not receiving adequate consideration if their mutual values diverge. That may be the case if, for example, jewelry or collectibles are exchanged.
The trading strategy of arbitrageurs, speculators or traders is exclusively geared towards profit-taking, so that they are not interested in the object of trade and therefore will not undertake a real exchange. Until the delivery date, they conclude counter-deals by way of closing out, so that the price difference between the two deals represents the profit they are hoping for.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sibylle Brunner / Karl Kehrle, Volkswirtschaftslehre , 2009, p. 47
- ↑ Hans-Werner Wohltmann, Fundamentals of the macroeconomic theory , 2016, p. 131
- ↑ Axel J. Halbach / Rigmar Osterkamp, The role of barter for developing countries , 1988, p. 117
- ↑ Fred Wagner (ed.), Gabler Versicherungslexikon , 2017, p. 345
- ↑ Institute for the World Economy, speculation has no influence on raw material prices , media information from March 11, 2014
- ↑ Mineralölwirtschaftsverband e. V., Pricing on the Crude Oil Market , 2004, p. 39
- ^ Tilman Heisterhagen / Rainer-W. Hoffmann, teacher of the currency crisis ?! , 2003, p. 237