To adopt this thing in Argentina, Javier Milei has proposed both a “purist” plan inspired by Henry C. Simons and a transitional period emulating its introduction in El Salvador and Ecuador in the early 2000s. For 10 points each:
[10m] What unit of account is used within the Compact of Free Association?
ANSWER: U.S. dollar [or USD, United States dollar, American dollar, or slang terms like bucks or greenbacks; accept dollarization or dollarize; prompt on money, currency, legal tender, cash, or equivalents; reject “coins”] (The freely associated states are Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands.)
[10h] The dollar is one of five currencies that determine the value of this accounting unit allocated by the IMF to provide liquidity. Brazil and Argentina’s proposed currency union would mimic this reserve asset.
ANSWER: special drawing rights [or SDRs; or XDR; prompt on drawing rights] (The other four currencies are the yen, rénmínbì, euro, and pound.)
[10e] This bloc’s de-dollarization proposals include a common basket currency similar to SDRs. Milei canceled plans to join this association, whose name is an acronym for five emerging economies, after its 2023 summit in Johannesburg.
ANSWER: BRICS (“bricks”) [accept BRICS Plus; reject “BRIC”] (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the UAE joined the group, which originally included Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.)
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