In Search of Hard Currencies
Varying theories of monetary policy, and the ever-present risk of unexpected geopolitical and policy events, preclude any claim of a currency's hardness from being called definitive.
The paper currencies of some developed countries have earned recognition as hard currencies at various times, including the United States dollar, Euro, Swiss franc, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, and to a lesser extent, the Canadian dollar and Australian dollar. Times change, and a currency that is considered weak at one time may become stronger, or vice versa. However, countries that consistently run large trade surpluses tend to have hard currencies.
One barometer of hard currencies is how they are favored within the foreign-exchange reserves of countries:
| 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | Latest Data '12 Quarter II |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US dollar | 59.0% | 62.1% | 65.2% | 69.3% | 71.0% | 70.5% | 70.7% | 66.5% | 65.8% | 66.0% | 66.4% | 65.7% | 64.1% | 64.1% | 62.1% | 61.8% | 62.2% | 61.9% |
| Euro | 17.9% | 18.8% | 19.8% | 24.2% | 25.3% | 24.9% | 24.3% | 25.2% | 26.3% | 26.4% | 27.6% | 26.0% | 25.0% | 25.1% | ||||
| German mark | 15.8% | 14.7% | 14.5% | 13.8% | ||||||||||||||
| French franc | 2.4% | 1.8% | 1.4% | 1.6% | ||||||||||||||
| Pound sterling | 2.1% | 2.7% | 2.6% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 2.9% | 2.6% | 3.2% | 3.6% | 4.2% | 4.7% | 4.0% | 4.3% | 3.9% | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| Japanese yen | 6.8% | 6.7% | 5.8% | 6.2% | 6.4% | 6.3% | 5.2% | 4.5% | 4.1% | 3.8% | 3.7% | 3.2% | 2.9% | 3.1% | 2.9% | 3.7% | 3.5% | 3.8% |
| Swiss franc | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.3% | 0.3% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.1% |
| Other | 13.6% | 11.7% | 10.2% | 6.1% | 1.6% | 1.4% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 1.8% | 2.2% | 3.1% | 4.4% | 5.4% | 5.3% |
| Sources: | ||||||||||||||||||
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Famous quotes containing the words search and/or hard:
“There’s a theory, one I find persuasive, that the quest for knowledge is, at bottom, the search for the answer to the question: “Where was I before I was born.” In the beginning was ... what? Perhaps, in the beginning, there was a curious room, a room like this one, crammed with wonders; and now the room and all it contains are forbidden you, although it was made just for you, had been prepared for you since time began, and you will spend all your life trying to remember it.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“Before I knew that I was Jewish or a girl I knew that I was a member of the working class. At a time when I had not yet grasped the significance of the fact that in my house English was a second language, or that I wore dresses while my brother wore pants, I knew—and I knew it was important to know—that Papa worked hard all day long.”
—Vivian Gornick (b. 1935)