Currencies, Commodities and Consumption

Kenneth W. Clements has been at the University of Western Australia since 1981 as Winthrop Professor of Economics and since 2008, BHP Billiton Research Fellow at the UWA Business School. In 2009, his book (co-authored with X. Zhao) Economics and Marijuana was published by Cambridge University Press. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and in 2009 received from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council a Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.

• 1. Introduction; Part I. Exchange Rates and Prices: 2. Purchasing power parity theory and the Big Mac Index; 3. Commodity currencies and currency commodities; Part II. Commodity Prices: 4. Three facts about marijuana prices; 5. Patterns in world metal prices; Part III. International Patterns of Incomes, Prices and Consumption: 6. Disparities in incomes and prices internationally; 7. Affluence and food: a simple way to infer incomes.

'The next few decades in global markets are likely to be dominated by the impact of the growth in China and the rest of Asia. Clements provides not only a thorough analysis of currencies and commodity prices to understand this development, he explicitly addresses - and provides great insight into - the mispricing that happens in such markets … This book is not only a very useful source to understand our changing economic world but it also provides a plethora of useful data from a variety of sources - and the output from Clements' own research - to satisfy both the needs of academics and those analysing financial markets across asset classes. There is sufficient information in an accessible form for readers to extend their own research using Clements' methodology.' Ron Bewley, Woodhall Investment Research Pty Ltd and former Chief Investment Officer, Commonwealth Bank of Australia