Depvana: RSS notification feed for topic 'Economics and Finance'. Limited to latest 5 posts. / http://www.depvana.com/topic/6 <b>Minimum Wage Hike Is Killing Jobs</b> Minimum Wage Hike Is Killing Jobs https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/californias-fast-food-minimum-wage-120006243.html 11/21/2025, 23:51:32 http://www.depvana.com/posts?pid=8071 /posts?pid=8071 http://www.depvana.com/topic/6 <b>Hot Take: IMF SDR System (International Monetary Fund)</b> <i>A Thin-Air Liquidity Donation Scheme with Asymmetrical Incentives</i> <b>Core Mechanics of SDRs</b> The IMF creates Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, out of thin air and allocates them to member countries. No hard assets back these entries. Members have agreed to swap SDRs for hard currencies like USD or EUR via IMF-facilitated voluntary trades. <i>A simplified example</i>. Assume countries A and B each receive 50 SDRs from the IMF (created out of thin air). Country A can now swap 50 SDRs for Country B's real currency. After the swap, Country A now has 0 SDRs and a bag of real currency from B. Country B has 100 SDRs but is missing the bag of real currency. The trade is effectively a donation, but of course the hope is that someone is willing to swap B's SDRs, keeping the pyramid scheme alive. If a country runs out of SDRs, it can borrow from surplus SDR nations bilaterally (peer-to-peer), where the peers set the terms. <b>Incentive Structure</b> This setup endures through mismatched incentives. Weak countries that receive real currency are incentivized to stay in the system because they fear being excluded, hence not being able to receive donations at a later point. Being in the system also reduces perceived risk for external investors, relevant for other funding mechanisms. Strong countries that have a net outflow of currency do this mainly for political reasons. Some wish for actual wealth transfer from strong to weak countries; some do it to mitigate spillovers from weak-nation failures that could disrupt trade or prices and the current world order. Furthermore, some do it for geopolitical influence, trading liquidity and loan terms for alliances or influence. Ultimately, SDRs mask donations and loans as stability tools, sustaining a coercive balance where weak nations dread the exit and strong ones hold the reins for influence and to preserve the ruling class' envisioned world order at the detriment of the citizens. 10/23/2025, 21:21:41 http://www.depvana.com/posts?pid=7796 /posts?pid=7796 http://www.depvana.com/topic/6 <b>Balance-of-payment crisis</b> A balance-of-payments crisis occurs when a country cannot obtain enough foreign exchange (forex) to meet its external payment obligations, such as paying for imports or servicing foreign debt. When we say a country cannot pay for its imports, we really mean that the private sector and the government together cannot obtain the foreign currency they need to pay foreign suppliers. Companies usually get foreign currency like US dollars or euros in one of two ways. They can buy it from the central bank or commercial banks, which sell forex from national reserves, or they can obtain it from the open foreign exchange market by exchanging their local currency with foreign investors, exporters, or others who have dollars. In normal times, this process works smoothly, with supply and demand balancing for both currencies. During a balance-of-payments crisis foreign investors withdraw, confidence in the local currency collapses, and few or no dollars are available in the market. Importers cannot buy the foreign currency they need, leading to reduced imports and shortages of essential goods such as fuel, medicine, and raw materials. The currency depreciates sharply, inflation rises, and the economy slows down or enters recession. In many cases, the country must seek help from the International Monetary Fund or other foreign partners to restore stability. 10/23/2025, 13:20:23 http://www.depvana.com/posts?pid=7795 /posts?pid=7795 http://www.depvana.com/topic/6 <b>SWIFT System - Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication</b> SWIFT is essentially a messaging protocol for money transfers. A SWIFT message does not transfer any money; it is simply an instruction. Banks that follow this protocol execute the SWIFT instruction accordingly. The actual transfer of funds occurs between banks that maintain accounts with each other. These accounts are referred to as Nostro and Vostro accounts, depending on perspective — meaning “our money with you” and “your money with us”, respectively. If two banks do not have a direct relationship (i.e., no accounts with each other), they use an intermediary bank that has the necessary connections. The SWIFT protocol guarantees the integrity and delivery of messages, making a valid SWIFT message irrefutable. When a bank executes a SWIFT transfer on behalf of a client, it subtracts the amount from the sender’s account and reduces the balance of its account held at the receiving bank (its Nostro account). The receiving bank then reduces the balance of the account it holds for the sending bank (its Vostro account) and adds the amount to the receiving client’s account. To ensure that Nostro and Vostro accounts remain balanced, banks reconcile these accounts daily, cross-checking the balances against SWIFT message records to confirm that both sides match. 10/22/2025, 23:16:19 http://www.depvana.com/posts?pid=7793 /posts?pid=7793 http://www.depvana.com/topic/6 Brief intro to polymarket 10/15/2025, 20:36:39 http://www.depvana.com/posts?pid=7723 /posts?pid=7723