the.com/devaluation
When a country admits its money talk was bigger than its money.
means A deliberate lowering of a currency's value relative to other currencies or a fixed standard, usually done by a government or central bank.
from Built from the Latin prefix 'de-' (down, away) plus 'valere' (to be strong or worth something) — the same root that gives us 'value' and 'valiant.' The word is a 19th/20th-century economic coinage, rising with the modern era of managed exchange rates and gold standards, when nations needed a formal term for officially telling the world their money was worth less than they'd previously claimed.
- instant effect
- imports get pricier before exports get competitive
- political move
- often announced on a Friday night to dodge markets
- classic example
- UK's 1967 devaluation, Wilson swore the pound in your pocket was fine
- not the same
- depreciation happens by market drift, not government decree