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Discusses the possibility of an international monetary system composed of the US dollar, the German deutschmark and the yen as an alternative to the system based solely on the US dollar. Points out that the yen is playing a limited role in the international economy. Discusses the factors which cause the restriction of the yen, with particular reference to other Asian countries and their shift of official reserves from the dollar towards the yen. Suggests that Japan must find new trade relations which are less dependent on the US market if the yen is to increase its share of international trade transactions.

Examines the cost performance of various strategies for managing foreign exchange risk in international sourcing. The strategies represent a broad spectrum of approaches to exchange risk, ranging from naïve to active. Of particular interest is the comparison of those strategies which use exchange rate forecasts with those which do not. Focuses on movements in the German mark/US dollar exchange rate for the period January 1986 through December 1990. Employs a historical simulation methodology to compare the performance of various strategies over this time frame. The results suggest that active approaches to exchange rate management warrant further attention.

The purchasing power parity hypothesis is investigated within a highly economically integrated set of nations, namely the European Monetary System. We use the Phillips‐Hansen Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares procedure, which for the first time allows for an unrestricted cointegration test of the PPP doctrine. We sequentially test for the weak and strong form of PPP.

The trend towards fewer and larger retail outlets, with the organisation centre often far away from the selling points; the doubling of the number of products sold in the last 10 years; the stagnation in turnover — all these have been the main forces behind the development of electronic data processing (and scanning in particular) in the retail trade. Europe hasn't been as quick off the mark as the USA in establishing itself in the scanning field, but all this is now changing. 1982 was the watershed, with Germany leading the way with 660 scanner PoS terminals in 73 self‐service stores. France comes next with 48 installations, followed by the UK with 42, Belgium with 39, 36 in the Netherlands, and 20 in Sweden. During 1982, too, almost 50% of the total number of systems now in place were installed. And in West Germany at least there's been no let up in 1983, with installations increasing by 71, to 144, and the number of scanner PoS terminals rising by 622, to 1,280. However, it wasn't just the large space users which were responsible for this surge forward: 35 of the 71 new installations were in supermarkets having a maximum of four checkouts. One computer company busy raking in the Deutschmarks, as well as Swiss Francs, pounds sterling, and some Scandinavian currencies, is the German based Nixdorf Computer. At a two‐day conference in Zurich, Axel Hass, Nixdorf's person in charge of sales for trade, restaurants and hotels, pointed out how, having made its name in the banking world from its inception in the 1950s, Nixdorf can now claim to be West Germany's market leader in laser‐scanning PoS systems, with 34% market share (equal to IBM here). Its number of installations worldwide has soared from 500 in 1975 to 14,000 in 1983, and in 1984 Nixdorf is confident this number will reach 25,000. Users now include German department and variety store groups, such as Karstadt, Dyckhoff and Kaufhof, the Spar voluntary chain, co‐ops, and Migros in Switzerland. But so far Nixdorf's push into the UK has been limited to a 50‐terminal system at the Calor Gas organisation, and an order for a non‐scanning system for a Scottish‐based retail chain. However, Nixdorf is obviously keen to make a deeper thrust into the UK and has set up a special group over here. The following two articles are based on papers presented at the Zurich conference. The first is a description of Nixdorf's first scanning exercise, for the German Rewe Group, which serves 7,930 independent outlets through 29 affiliated wholesalers. The second is a quite different and much smaller operation, for Mackay's whose headquarters are in Paisley in the west of Scotland. Nixdorf is providing a non‐scanning system for the company's 140 outlets scattered throughout the UK. Both the above operate out of retail units averaging under 3,000 sq m and demonstrate Nixdorf's flexibility, with its 8812/10 terminal system, to cater for the smaller as well as the larger retailer.

Innovations – the unanticipated component – of the Canadian market‐determined bank rate announcements have an immediate impact on the bilateral Canadian/US dollar spot exchange rate, with the sign of the impact depending on market perceptions of the monetary policy regime in which the central bank is operating. The expected bank rate changes do not have a significant impact on the spot rate. Moreover, a test of the “news” impact on the Canadian/US dollar must include the relationship between the latter and Deutschmark/ US$ spot rate, which is a proxy for the movement of the US dollar against major offshore currencies.

Discusses the impact of high wages and investment strategies in physical and human capital on eastern Germany post unification. Introduces the concept of learning‐by‐doing as an externality of high quality investment. Provides some eclectic arguments in support of learning‐by‐doing effects which may be used to partly replace costly, publicly financed vocational training programmes.

Revisits the problems of the East German labour market post‐unification, the emergence and persistence of unemployment and possible scenarios for future development. Examines active labour market programmes, highlights gender inequalities in the East German labour market and discusses potential labour market remedies. Pays particular attention to wage policies as the key to economic success and potentially regained competitiveness in East Germany.

Reviews the attempts to introduce greater exchange rate stability into the European Union, culminating in the 1992 crisis in the Exchange Rate Mechanism, and the UK’s withdrawal. Outlines the Maastricht Treaty proposals for monetary union by 1999. Finally, reviews the arguments for and against UK adoption of the single currency, drawing, where possible, on the limited empirical evidence.

If a limited number of EU countries decide to proceed with the stipulated timetable for EMU in 1999, Britain will soon face the crucial decision of whether or not to participate. States the reasons for believing that participation will damage both Britain’s economy and its capacity for self‐government. States that many accept such arguments but claim that exclusion would prove most costly. Proceeds to demonstrate that these fears are based on myths rather than objective facts. Claims Britain’s economic performance will be enhanced, rather than damaged, by opting out of EMU.

Following an introduction to household accounting in Germany, the paper presents the results of research projects on accounting practices in private households and reports on the subsequent development of a new household accounting system. The empirical research suggested that accounting records were kept on a regular basis in 27 per cent of German households. It was discovered that self‐developed bookkeeping systems were predominantly used for that purpose. The research findings on household accounting practices were used to inform the design of Das Neue Haushaltsbuch (The New Housekeeping Book). The article charts the development of a number of variants of this prototype including a bookkeeping system which permits parallel reporting in the Deutschmark and the Euro, a system designed for use by budgeting advice services, and a pocket‐money book for children.