Question

Because of the high volume of bicycles as a common form of transportation in Beijing and Shanghai, Charles wants to sell his bicycle horns to these markets. In this case, the exchange rate is $1 U.S. dollar = 6.42 Chinese yuan. Economically speaking, how are his prospects?A) Not good. The Chinese would not see value in a horn because they are accustomed to just yell at each other in traffic.B) Good because the yuan has strength against the dollar. The Chinese have 6.42 yuan to spend compared to $1 U.S. dollar.C) It depends on the value of the Chinese yuan in relation to the dollar.D) Pretty good because the U.S. dollar is down against the Chinese yuan.

Answer 1

C) It depends on the value of the Chinese yuan in relation to the dollar.

Step-by-step explanation:

The exchange rate of a currency gives you a nominal value of the local currency against another foreign currency, but just by having a number doesn't mean a lot. First of all we do not know how much can you really buy with 6.42 yuans, so we are not able to know if $1 is cheap or expensive.

Assuming that the price of the horns is competitive, what can really affect this business is the fluctuations of the currency value. If the yuan appreciates against the dollar, the horns will become cheaper, but if the yuan depreciates against the dollar, the horns will become more expensive.