appreciate  to increase the value of a currency under floating exchange rates, that is, exchange rates determined by supply and demand
depreciate(a currency)  to decrease the value of a currency under floating exchange rates
devaluation  a deliberate decrease in the official value of a currency
equilibrium exchange rates  the exchange rates that are established in the absence of government foreign exchange market intervention
foreign exchange market intervention  the buying and selling of currencies by a government or central bank to achieve a specified exchange rate
fundamental disequilibrium  a permanent shift in the foreign exchange market supply and demand curves such that the fixed exchange rate is no longer an equilibrium rate
gold exchange standard  an exchange-rate system in which each nation fixes the value of its currency in terms of gold, but buys and sells the U.S. dollar rather than gold to maintain fixed exchange rates
gold standard  a system whereby national currencies are fixed in terms of their value in gold, thus creating fixed exchange rates between currencies
International Monetary Fund (IMF)  an international organization that supervises exchange-rate arrange­­­ments and lends money to member countries experiencing problems meeting their external financial obligations
open economy  an economy in which a relatively large fraction of the GDP is devoted to internationally tradable goods
reserve currency  a currency that is used to settle international debts and is held by governments to use in foreign exchange market interventions
speculators  people who seek to profit from an expected shift in an exchange rate by selling the currency expected to depreciate and buying the currency expected to appreciate, then exchanging the appreciated currency for the depreciated currency after the exchange rate adjustment
World Bank  an international organization that makes loans and provides technical expertise to developing countries