Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- PART I DEMOCRACY AND GLOBALIZATION
- PART II INDIA AND THE WORLD
- PART III SOCIAL NORMS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
- PART IV PERSONS
- PART V ON THE ROAD, AROUND THE WORLD
- 35 Notarizing in Delhi
- 36 Traveller's Bihar
- 37 Tango of Two Currencies: Buenos Aires
- 38 A Vietnam Diary
- 39 South Africa: Zebra Country
- 40 North Meets South: In and Around Bangalore
- 41 Muito Obrigado, Portugal
- 42 Queuing in Kolkata and Delhi
- 43 Viewing Bengal from Bankura
- 44 Loitering in Lahore
- 45 Thinking about Currencies in Kathmandu
- Index
45 - Thinking about Currencies in Kathmandu
from PART V - ON THE ROAD, AROUND THE WORLD
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Introduction
- PART I DEMOCRACY AND GLOBALIZATION
- PART II INDIA AND THE WORLD
- PART III SOCIAL NORMS AND POLITICAL ECONOMY
- PART IV PERSONS
- PART V ON THE ROAD, AROUND THE WORLD
- 35 Notarizing in Delhi
- 36 Traveller's Bihar
- 37 Tango of Two Currencies: Buenos Aires
- 38 A Vietnam Diary
- 39 South Africa: Zebra Country
- 40 North Meets South: In and Around Bangalore
- 41 Muito Obrigado, Portugal
- 42 Queuing in Kolkata and Delhi
- 43 Viewing Bengal from Bankura
- 44 Loitering in Lahore
- 45 Thinking about Currencies in Kathmandu
- Index
Summary
One of the first signs that greets arriving passengers at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan Airport instructs them to ‘first clear immigration before you pass out’. On a recent trip to Nepal I fully appreciated the airport authority's concern. Thanks to the bumpy flight over the Himalayas, one does feel somewhat light in the head as one conducts oneself through the rites of entering the country.
I took to Nepal quickly. It is beautiful; the people lack intrigue; the artwork on building façades and thangkas is exquisite. Besides, there is much to occupy an economist's attention—the haggling in the bazaars, the attitude to money and work among auto-drivers and roadside entrepreneurs, the stratagems and irrationalities in gambling parlours, and, most remarkably, the economy's ability to effortlessly switch between two currencies. Buy a yak-bone sculpture, have a meal at Rum Doodles (highly recommended), or take a taxi. Everywhere you have the choice of paying in Nepalese or Indian rupees.
This is a textbook case of ‘currency substitution’ or ‘dollarization’, where one economy accepts another's currency for its day-to-day transactions. This need have nothing to do with the dollar—though it often does. For instance, Panama has no national currency of significance. It runs on American money. It is true that it saves on running a central monetary authority, but the policy makes Panama vulnerable to the actions of the American Fed.
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- Information
- The Retreat of Democracy and Other Itinerant Essays on Globalization, Economics, and India , pp. 265 - 268Publisher: Anthem PressPrint publication year: 2010