Composition of the UKs Balance of Payments Arrangements - Assignment Example

EUROPEAN BUSINESS By European Business TASK LO Explain the Composition of the UK’s Balance of Payments Arrangements. Balance of payments usually refers to the amounts of imports and the amounts of exports that a given country has at a time. As such, this is an in-depth analysis at the value of imports and the value of exports that the UK undertakes during a normal fiscal year. In fact, the balance of payments forms one of the key economic statistical series of the United Kingdom as it provides various measures of the economic transactions between the residents of the United Kingdom and the rest of the world. A recent study (Redwood,2013) shows that the balance of payments also draws a series of balances that occur between the inwards and outwards transactions in order to provide a net flow of transactions between the residents of the United Kingdom and the world at large, as well as, provide a comprehensive report on the basic funding of these flows. The balance of payments incorporates a variety of transactions, key among them being the exports and imports of goods and services. These goods and services include products such as oil, agricultural produce, machinery and transport equipment, other raw materials, white goods, computers, as well as clothing. The exports and imports trade of services includes services such as international transport, majorly through airlines and freight services, travel, business and financial services. According to Pettinger (2014), other economic transactions that make up the balance of payments in the United Kingdom include the financial flows, such as the investments in shares, the direct investments, loans and deposits, as well as, the debt securities. Transfers also constitute the balance of payments, because they are the offsetting entries to any one sided transaction as listed above, such as the funds brought by migrants in the united kingdom, or the foreign aid. The international investment position series of statistics relates closely to the balance of payments. This parameter measures the levels of financial investments with the rest of the world, both inwards and outwards. Identifying the Key Elements in Detail and indicate how this has a Bearing on UK Trade Policy. Several types of balance of transaction occur in the balance of payments within the United Kingdom’s market setting, and these transactions have a direct and effective impact on the trade policy of the United Kingdom. Just like any other country, the United Kingdom would like to boost its exports as it reduces its imports as exports have an economic value as opposed to the imports. As such, the more exports the country has, the more economic gain an advantage it acquires. A longitudinal study by Hannan (2011) provides that this would be contrary if the country had more imports that surpassed its exports by far, as it would lose so much of its foreign revenue paying for the goods and services it imports into the country. As such, the executive players in charge of monitoring and controlling the balance of payments trade in the united kingdom have to watch keenly a number of operations and transactions in order to make the right trade policies that promotes the country’s exports as opposed to its imports. An economic transaction normally occurs whenever something of economic value changes from one hand to another. This could be a case whereby one party of the transaction provides a good or service for sale, and the other party to the transaction purchases the product or service at an agreeable price. Each transaction has an economic value compromise, especially those transactions that specialize in dealing with financial assets and liabilities, goods, income, and services. Consequently, the transactions recorded in the balance of payments statements usually stem from the dealings between the two parties in the business contract, with one of the parties being a resident while the other party being a non-resident of the country in question. The types of transactions included in the balance of payments, as such, are exchanges, imputed transactions, as well as, one-sided transactions (Hall 2012). Exchanges form the most numerous and most important type of transaction in the balance of payments. This include transactions in which one of the transactors provides something of economic value to the other party in the transaction, and in return, receives something of equal measure and value. Special cases of imputation or estimations include migrant’s transfers, reinvested earnings, financial services, financial leases, as well as, goods for processing and many more (Bush 2013). Migrant transfers incorporate a special statistical treatment necessary when one person migrates from one country to another, and as such, the status of the individual changes from non-resident to resident, vice versa. As such, whenever such a change in the personal status of an individual occurs, the property owned by the individual migrant also becomes the property of a resident instead of that of a non-resident, and vice versa. The balance of payments incorporates this change of ownership of net worth between economies. For instance, any financial assets held abroad by the migrant become claims by the UK on the rest of the world. Offset entries take place to the corresponding transfer of net worth, and as such, by their nature, these the recording of these transactions occurs in the capital account of the balance of payments. Consequently, this treatment amounts to envisaging a transfer of property from the person in their capacity as a non-resident to the person in their capacity as a resident of vice versa. In principle, the transaction embraces all the property owned by the migrant whether it accompanies the migrant or not (Hall 2012). Reinvested earnings form one of the numerous special cases of imputed transactions that feature in the compilation of the balance of payments. This case involves the reinvestment of the earnings made by resident enterprises by their non-resident direct investors. The consideration of these reinvested earning is as such, payments paid out as investment income, and then reinvested in the enterprises from which they originated. Therefore, their recording occurs both as a component of investment income in the current account, as well as, as a component of direct investment in the financial account (Bush 2013). As such, it is analytically useful to indentify these transactions separately in an economic statistics because of their substantial contribution that they make to the stock of the direct investment finance in a country. Financial services are another transaction in the balance of payments. A case relates to the implicit fees associated with the financial services. These include derivatives and securities trading, spread earnings on foreign exchange, as well as, Financial Intermediation Services Indirectly Measured (FISIM). This is the implicit margin resulting from the differentials in interest rates between borrowing and lending. The exceptions to change of ownership forms another transaction recorded in the balance of payment. In an economic statistics setting, the consideration of transactions occurs when a good or a financial asset changes ownership between transactors, or whenever services provided by one-transactor reaches another transactor, or when one transactor earns an income from another. However, some particular situations still exists whereby no change of ownership legally occurs, but still the balance of payments considers these transactions to have occurred and makes a recording. Such situations include financial assets, goods exported from or imported to the UK for processing and return, as well as, the transactions between a head office in one country and a branch in another country. A financial lease refers to the systematic method of obtaining all the risks, rights, as well as, rewards of ownership of real resources without necessarily holding a legal ownership over the resources. All the responsibilities and risks apply to the lessee despite the fact that all legal ownership remains with the lessor during the period or term of the lease. In such a case, the basic nature of the transaction takes precedence over its legal form, such as by imputing a change of ownership of the resource to the lessee. Consequently, this leads to the recognition of a financial liability, leading to the classification of lease payments as partly loan repayments in the financial account, as well as, partly interest in the current account, rather than as services in the current account. Goods for processing as a transaction, leads to an economic statistic whereby the value of the goods either entering or leaving the United Kingdom for processing and return to the country of origin after processing be recorded on a gross basis. As such, this entails the recording of the goods both when they enter the country as imports, as well as, when they leave the country as exports. This is despite the fact that there exists no legal change of ownership on the goods in question. A good entering the UK for processing and returning to its country of origin undergoes recording as an import at the appropriate value, and subsequently as an export, recorded by the customs system at the original value plus the added value of the processing. It is also imperative to apply a symmetrical treatment to the UK goods exported for processing and return. This treatment bases on the fact that such goods lose their identity during processing by undergoing a transformation or incorporation into different goods. On the other hand, as for the goods that only undergo repairs, only the value of the repairs and not the gross value of the goods is what is included in the goods credits or debits. The economic statistics requires the split of activities of a legal entity in order to recognize the two units, such as the head office in one country, and a branch office or subsidiary in another country. The flows of goods and services, as well as, incomes and finance between the head office and the branches therefore warrant the treatment of transactions, despite the fact that they legally form part of the same unit. For instance, goods and services sent from the head office to its branch lake the legal name and status of exports of goods and services by the head office, and vice versa if the case were for the branch. Explaining the Impact of International Trade to an Open Economy and Discuss how the UK’s Membership of the EU has Affected the UK’s Trade Patterns, the Competitive Position of the UK, and the UK’s Management of Exchange Rates. International trade has a variety of impacts on the open economy. This is an economy whereby there are no restrictions to the importation and exportation of goods and services as long as they meet the legal threshold. Furthermore, there are no government bottlenecks or tariffs put up to control or maneuver transactions in such an economy. The international trade, as such, either affects negatively or positively such an open economy judging from the nature of payments and transactions that take place. A longitudinal study by Hannan (2011) provides that if the exports of the country far outweigh the imports of the country. in addition, international trade bring more value and economic gain to the said open economy as opposed to a case whereby the imports of the country outweigh the exports of the country, as the country ends up losing more revenue through foreign exchange. The membership of the United Kingdom to the European Union affects positively the trade patterns of the country as it provides the country with an economic trading block, which has similar economic conditions and an expansive import exports market. As such, the country maximizes its membership in the EU to undertake various trading activities without incurring much costs and risks associated to international trade, such as foreign exchange risk, and blockading tariffs from different governments and states. According to Pettinger (2014), the EU provides a similar platform for trade amongst all the member states like it were in the same country, and using the same currency to shop and make purchases or payments like a trader were in his or her own country. The Euro is the legally accepted currency for trade across the European Union member states, and this facilitates trade among these countries, thereby promoting the trade patterns between the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. This also gives the UK a competitive position over other market players, as it is a leading economy within the Union. As such, it has more exports than imports, and it has more local customers than international customers, thanks to the unionization of the EU, and as such, does not undergo any transactional risks, in its exports and imports. it also does not have o control its exchange rates when trading with member countries of the EU, as all it has to do is to set aside its Sterling Pound and instead engage the Euro in its business transactions. This in turn brings about a considerable level of earnings for the United Kingdom, especially considering the instruments of investments that it may employ in undertaking their transactions. A recent study (Redwood, 2013) shows that these instruments of investments as considered in the balance of payments are monetary gold, special drawing rights, foreign exchange, reserve position in the IMF, equity, reinvested earning, debt securities, financial derivatives, trade credit and loans. TASK 2 (LO 2) Exchange Rate Stability The EU promotes the stabilization of the exchange rates among member states of the country. This is in an effort to reduce the incidence of foreign exchange risks that might occur when one member state trades with another member state. A recent study (www.barclayscorporate.com/fxrates/foreign-exchange-rates.html) proves that the EU goes further to eliminate any form of foreign exchange risk by introducing a single currency, which allows transactions to take place between member states of the union. By using this single currency, the member states do not have to change their home currency to the currency of their trading partner, and vice versa, depending on the nature and volume of transactions (Staab, 2011). As such, this stabilizes the exchange rates within the member states of the European Union, thereby promoting trading activities across these countries that are member states, especially in relation to imports and exports of the countries. The Single Currency According to Best, Christiansen & Settembrini (2008), the single currency platform promotes the usage of a single currency across all member states of the European Union. This single currency accepted as the economic mode of trade between member states of the union is the Euro. As such, trading in the Euro gives member states an opportunity to do their business across borders to other member states belonging to the union without incurring any foreign exchange risk. Furthermore, this also eliminates all forms of risks and liabilities related to international trade and foreign exchange transactions, as well as, promote the growth and development of trade within the region. As such, traders can easily sell their products from any country in the region and expect to earn the same as those it would get while trading in its home country. Consequently, the buyers would also easily purchase products and services from any member state of the union without compromise on price and quality, as they would use the same parameters of valuation. Free Trade versus Protectionism The formation of the European Union was majorly to introduce a free trade zone within the region that promotes economic transactions and business activities. However, some countries have different economic power as compared to other countries that also form part of the EU. In recent studies (Elsing & Kohler-Koch 2003), these smaller countries need protection from competition and aggressive trade mechanisms by established and developed countries in order to grow and develop their local markets and industries to match the rest of the EU countries. However, since the EU focuses on eliminating bottlenecks to trade and economic transactions within the region, it imposes ultimatums for each member country to fulfill and gives a timeline for their executions in order to create a region that has economic freedom, as well as, promoting growth and development fairly amongst all member states of the union. Factor Mobility Mobility of factors of production is another very crucial parameter in the development and implementation of international trade. Factors of production include land, labour, entrepreneurship, as well as, capital. The economic costs of moving these factors from one country to another, or from their initial position to the site of production should be minimal in order to allow for advancement in the returns on investments. As such, the EU works hard at creating an enabling environment that facilitates the smooth flow of factors of production from one country to another, by eliminating bottlenecks such as work permits, imports and exports tariffs, as well as, other political constraints that may interfere with factor mobility. This in turn leads to the smooth flow of factors of production from one member state to another to facilitate the processes of production, as well as, encourage economic growth and prosperity within the entire region (Peterson & Shackleton, 2012). Task 3 (LO 3) The European Union has a number of institutions that assist it in functioning appropriately just like any other legal entity or structure of governance. Considering the fact that the European Union incorporates a number of members all over Europe and parts of Asia, with each member being a sovereign country, it is imperative for the union to have several institutions that assist in balancing powers, as well as, brining about an agreeable and workable compromise for all the member states. This will facilitate a quicker recovery, as well as, promote the achievement of the main goals and objectives of the union. Adelle & Hordan (2013) argue that, these institutions are instrumental in coming up with objective laws and policies that assist the union in running its activities and affairs efficiently in such a way that it achieves its goals as speculated in its mission and vision, as well as, assigned through its strategic plans (figure 1) A longitudinal study (Borzel, 2002) undertaken in this area shows that, the major institutions in the European Union include the European Council or Summit, which is the top most institution in the EU. The second level of institutions includes the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of Ministers or the Council. The third level of institutions in the EU includes the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the Economic and Justice Committee, and the Committee of the Regions. The fourth and last level of institutions in the EU comprises of the European Investment Bank, Agencies, the European Monetary Union, and the European Central Bank. Each of these institutions operates independently, although they cooperate and coordinate with one another in order to fulfill the goals and objectives of the commission. As such, the operations of each of these institutions have a direct and effective impact on the policy outcomes, as well as, the funding arrangements of the European Union (figure 2) The European Council or the EU summit is the top most organ of the European Union. This organ gives the member states of the EU a platform to air their views, opinions, suggestions and complaints about the operations of the commission. In recent studies (Elsing & Kohler-Koch 2003), the EU Council acts as the voice of the member states, whereby representatives from each member state meet on a regular basis to discuss and come to an agreement about come of the pressing issues within the union. The representatives of these member states are usually the presidents, or the top most political figure from each country that is a member of the union, and these leaders discuss issues and concerns affecting their individual countries, as well as, suggest and adopt policies that will favor and enhance economic growth and development within their individual states. Currently, the president of the European Council is Mr. Herman Van Rompuy. The next level of European institutions includes the European Parliament, European Commission, and the Council of Ministers. This level of institutions plays a critical role of developing policies and regulations that affect the prosperity and growth of the union, as suggested by the European Council. As such, this body of representatives from each member country tasked with the role of formulating and implementing a number of policies that affect the development of the region. A recent study (McCormick 2011), the European Parliament, for instance, is the voice of the people. This includes members of parliaments from the 28 different member states of the EU, who come together to suggest and discuss issues affecting their countries, as well as, suggest and draft appropriate policies that will boost and enhance the economic development, political stability, union cohesion of their individual countries. The current president of the European Parliament is Martin Schulz (figure 3) The European Commission on the other hand, is a side arm of the European Parliament that puts into practices the decisions and laws passed by the EU Parliament. The main goal of the European Commission is to promote common interest across all the member states of the EU. As such, the commission discusses and implements polices that are favorable and conducive to all the member states of the EU without fear or favor to the bigger or stronger member states, in terms of political and economic might, as well as, without discriminating on the low or poor member states. This includes member states such as those with a smaller size and lower economic might. The current president of the European commission is one Mr. José Manuel Barroso (Staab, 2011). The council of ministers refers to representatives of the EU Parliament tasked with the duty of overseeing a given important docket in the union, known as a ministry. These ministers perform their respective ministerial duties on behalf of the European Union, and report back to the European parliament for approval, support or rejection of whatever decisions, policies, and agreements that they come about in relation to the effective functionality of the EU (Peterson & Shackleton, 2012). The council of ministers also acts as the voice of member states as it incorporates a single minister from each member country of the EU. The presidency in the Council of Ministers of the EU rotates from one country to other every six months of the year. The council decides on a number of EU laws and budget alongside the EU parliament. Furthermore, the council is also in charge of managing the common foreign and security policies of the region (figure 1) The third level of the institutions of the European Union includes the EU Court of Justice, The EU Court of Auditors, the EU Economic and Social Committee, as well as, the EU Committee of Regions. The main role that institutions at this level of the EU structure is to implement and oversee the enforcement of the laws, polices and regulations passed by higher-level institutions of the EU such as the parliament, commission, and council of ministers. A recent study (McCormick 2011), proves that the EU court of Justice is in charge of coming up with universal laws and regulations that cover and operate in all member states of the EU. However, it mainly monitors the implementation of these laws and regulations depending on the approach taken by each member state. Eriksen & Fossum (2002) shows that the process of making a single law or rule that affects the entire EU begins from the citizens from each member state of the EU, interest groups, as well as, experts, who discuss and consult about a given law or jurisdiction that they would like implemented and enforced within the union. The EU commission takes up the opinions from these groups and goes ahead to make a formal proposal pertaining the proposed law or regulation. Once the commission comes to a consensus over the application or implementation of a given law, it then forwards its agreement to the EU parliament and the Council of Ministers to seek its approval. These two institutions have to agree and decide jointly on whether to adopt or reject a given law as suggested. Once these two institutions approve the law, it becomes operative and as such, all member states have to implement it according to the union’s statues and regulations. As such, the law passes down to individual national and local authorities to implement it, while the EU Court of Justice plays the executive role of monitoring the implementation of such a law or jurisdiction across all member states of the EU. The EU court of Auditors is the auditing wing of the union that ensures all member states adhere to the set rules and regulations pertaining financial management and administration across the union (McNamara, 1998). It consists of twenty-eight independent members whose main role is to check that the funds provided by the European Union follow the laid down policies and provisions of usage. This eliminates any wastage or embezzlement of funds that the EU provides. As such, the EU Court of Auditors has the authority and mandate to audit any person or a particular organization dealing with EU funds. The EU Economic and Social Committee sit to discuss various economic and social policies affecting the smooth running and operations of the EU. This committee provides a platform for civil societies to address their grievances. It consists of 353 members who are representatives from trade unions, consumers, employers, as well as, farmers. Eriksen & Fossum (2002) shows that this committee advice on the new laws and policies adopted by the EU, as well as, promote the involvement of the civil society in matter concerning the EU. For instance, this committee was very instrumental in spearheading the Euro Zone economic recovery after the great economic crisis of 2008. The committee of regions also sits to discuss various pressing issues affecting each region of the EU, and as such, come up with workable solutions that assist each region or area. It also consists of 353 members who are representatives of different regions and cities within the EU. It also plays the role of advising the EU on its new laws and policies, as well as, promotes the involvement of the local government in the matters of the EU. The fourth level of institutions of the EU comprises of the European Investment Bank, EU Agencies, the European Central Bank, as well as, the European Monetary Union. The main role played by these institutions is to promote and enhance sustainable economic growth and development across the entire EU, and especially to assist poor member states to achieve substantial economic growth. An early report (Kohler–Koch & Rittberger 2007) reported that, this level of institutions is the one in charge of maintaining a one-currency economy across all the member states of the EU, whereby they enforce the Euro as the acceptable mode of currency across all the member states of the EU. For instance, the European Central bank plays the role of every individual central bank like in a country setting; however, for this case it plays central bank functions for member states of the EU. Its main role is to control price stability, as well as, to control the supply of money within the region, and deciding the applicable interest rates across banks in the region. This institution works independently from governments of member states in the region. The European Monetary Union (EMU) is an economic region covering most of the European countries that are members of the European Union and advocates for the unionization of all activities affecting all member countries. As such, the EMU advocates for a single currency to operate across all the countries in the region. According to Best, Christiansen & Settembrini (2008), the currency adopted thus far is the Euro (€), which operates as the principle currency across the region, facilitating interstate trade as well as overseeing other economic transactions. Operating under a single currency and trading block brings numerous advantages to the members of the members of the European Union. These advantages include a reduced cost of transaction, especially when undertaking interstate trading activities. Since both countries are operating with the same currency, it becomes easier for traders and customers to buy and sell their goods and services across nations, thereby boosting the imports and experts business by eliminating contingencies arising from foreign currency transactions. Task 4 (LO 4) The Euro Zone promotes trade and growth development to member states of the EU, as well as, facilitates the growth of companies into multinational corporations through taking advantage of the expansive market of the EU. As such, different companies take different approaches in order to take advantage of the expanded market sphere brought about by the unionization of European countries. One such company is the Barclays bank in the United Kingdom, which maximizes the parameters brought about by the formation of the European Union to expand its trade and business activities. As such, the Barclays banks should respond appropriately to ensure that it grows long with the expansion of the EU in order to develop trade within the region (McNamara, 1998) The company can adopt an action plan that encompasses composition of its work strategies and employee portfolio. An early report (Kohler–Koch & Rittberger 2007) reported that, the Barclays bank is a multinational corporation that provides banking services throughout the globe. Its headquarters are in the United Kingdom, and it has independent subsidiaries and branches across various countries across the world, inclusive of other member states of the EU. As such, composition component requires the company to create a platform that incorporates all member states of the EU in order to take advantage of the regional platform provided by the EU. It can also expand its size easily considering the fact that it is trading in an economic free zone that has little or no inhibitions to trade, such as foreign exchange risks and transactions. This facilitates an easy and smooth flow of assets and liabilities from the headquarters branch in the United Kingdom to the smaller branches and subsidiaries across various nations within the EU. The EU also provides the company with a platform to improve its infrastructure, in such a way that it will take advantage of the expansive regional market created by the formation of the union. This incorporates performing its activities across the region as if it were performing them within the borders of its home country. This is thanks to the streamlining of the economic platforms between member states that form part of the EU. In addition, Adelle & Hordan (2013) argue that, this provides the company with a myriad of opportunities to enhance and increase its trading activities within the region. A longitudinal study (Borzel, 2002) undertaken in this area shows that, the Euro zone has a direct and significant impact on the plans and trading activities of the bank as it creates a wider region of economic trade and performance that enhance and promote the activities of the bank, leading to substantial growth and profitability. The euro zone creates a region whereby traders and buyers from different member countries of the EU come together to undertake business activities in a seamless and smooth manner, without the bottlenecks brought about by different country tariffs, taxation systems and regulations. Appendix Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Reference List Adelle, C. & Hordan, A. (2013) Environmental Policy in the EU: Actors, Institutions and Processes. London: Routledge. Balance of Payment, Q3 2013. Office of National Statistics, September 20. 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