Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2020 April 16

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April 16

Rupee value falling repeatedly compared to Dollar

Rupee crosses 75 per US dollar for first time as fall continues

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/rupee-dollar-rate-today-inr-slumps-to-record-low-near-75-per-usd-11584587241279.html

Then I checked washington post and saw these news https://www.washingtonpost.com/

1- 22 million Americans filed for unemployment in past four weeks

2- U.S. labor market tumbles closer to Depression levels

New York Times - Nowhere to Hide’ as Unemployment Permeates the Economy Jobless claims exceed 20 million in four weeks, inflicting a toll on the labor force not seen since the Great Depression. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/business/economy/coronavirus-unemployment-claims.html In India there is lockdown but USA and Europe has more deaths, so:

What extra thing USA is doing, that even in this bad condition they manage to keep Dollar value higher than Rupee and make sure that Dollar value increases constantly?

This article is about the stock market rather than the currency market, but in the sense that they are both financial markets, it may have some explanation why, in the current situation, financial indicators like currency exchanges and stock prices, seem to be going up as employment figures plummet. --Jayron32 14:39, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

All else being equal (*), the value of an unregulated currency will rise and fall on the basis of supply and demand. Because of the massive volume of dollar transactions and speculation, all else being equal (*), the US does not try to manage the value of the dollar. There are exceptions, such as the September 1985 Plaza Accord, but they are very rare.

Back to India. The Reserve Bank of India actively manages the exchange rate, so market force have a much smaller influence over the actual exchange rates available. The RBI says it intervenes to dampen volatility, not to influence the value of direction of movement.

From a recent high just prior to the Great North Atlantic Economic and Financial Fiasco in 2007-09, the rupee has depreciated against the US dollar an average of 0.43% per month. The largest dip was 6.35%, in October 2008. After six months of relative stability in October 2019-February 2020, it then fell 4.05% in March and 1.40% from the first half of March to the first half of April. So, what is probably happening here is a perception of unusual weakness, rather than a step-change in the value of the currency.

(*) It never is.DOR (HK) (talk) 15:51, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

A country which manages the value of its currency trades usual stability for brief periods of rapid revaluation when the market supply and demand becomes too great for the country's central bank to counter. Those revaluation periods almost always occur during crises of one kind or another. The current economic crisis due to covid-19 is evenly matched in most locales, as production has decreased about as much as spending, allowing most countries to borrow or inflate their currency to counter lost income. The US, as the largest economy which seems to be managing its crisis in an austere manner so far, is seen as a safe haven by currency investors. Treasury security auction rates have been far lower in March and April than they were in January and early February. Capital is therefore fleeing to the USD from speculators and institutions alike, depressing the value of other country's currencies. Those who have tightly managed their currency in the past have seen the floodgates open against their central banks, and are forced to allow a free-fall. EllenCT (talk) 18:28, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

How do the Chinese seen the Germans?

Are there any scientific studies or at least good literatur investigations, how the Chinese picture of the Germans is? Do they see the Germans positiv or as bad?--178.10.6.170 (talk) 19:06, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

I'm half Chinese, and 1/8th German, and I don't think they think anything at all. If you meant Nazi Germany, they probably view as most everyone else. 67.175.224.138 (talk) 22:10, 16 April 2020 (UTC).

I taught in China for two years. A lot of people I've met there kinda saw Hitler as just another leader in some foreign country who did some stuff that made people unhappy; the way many Americans might view Timur or some modern dictator who doesn't have nukes or oil. Part of it is apathy toward stuff in the past that did not directly and immediately contribute to their country's history or favorite TV show. (I'm not clarifying that statement). The textbook for the European culture class I taught, about 400 pages, had one sentence about the Holocaust, saying it made people unhappy but that it influenced art somehow. They were quite shocked when I did an entire lecture on it.

Modern Germany has a reputation for good engineering. A lot of expensive products have German flags on them, even things one wouldn't associate with engineering or Europe (there's really only so much science you can throw at a Polyurethane sponge). Ian.thomson (talk) 22:31, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

If you want a bit of historical perspective, you may be interested in reading about the Kiautschou Bay concession and the German occupation of Qingdao. bibliomaniac15 22:51, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

The Chinese probably have a let less apathy toward Japan. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:20, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

How old is this bottle of Tizer? (UK)

Unidentified Tizer bottle

Question for U.K Wikipedians: I found an old bottle of Tizer in a stream earlier today, but I could not identify how old this bottle might have been. I found pictures various shapes of glass Tizer bottles online but none matched this one. Can anyone help to identify it's age? --Polegåarden (talk) 19:22, 16 April 2020 (UTC)

To my eye, it looks similar to this one. There's no date given on the eBay example, but must be before 1972 when our article says that the brand was acquired by A.G. Barr (the label says "A Tizer Group Product"). I think I can see an external glass screw thread for a metal or plastic cap on your photo; before the 1950s there would have been a vulcanised rubber bung with the thread on the inside of the neck. Alansplodge (talk) 10:28, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

Some Tizer bottles are included in Barr's Evolution of the bottle page; yours looks like the one on the bottom row (just before the Barr's takeover). Alansplodge (talk) 10:57, 17 April 2020 (UTC)

Thank you, fellow Wikipedians. --Polegåarden (talk) 21:05, 20 April 2020 (UTC)