Question

Suppose that the pound is pegged to gold at 6 pounds per ounce, whereas the franc is pegged to gold at 12 francs per ounce. This, of course, implies that the equilibrium exchange rate should be two francs per pound. If the current market exchange rate is 2.2 francs per pound, how would you take advantage of this situ-ation

Answer 1

Answer:

we can look at this problem from 2 different point of views:

if you have francs and wish to buy pounds: then you take 12 francs and purchase 1 ounce of gold, and then you sell it for 6 pounds. This way you will only spend 2 francs per each pound instead of 2.2.

if you have pounds and want to make a gain: you take 6 pounds and purchase 13.2 francs and you then buy 1.1 ounces of gold. Then you sell the 1.1 ounces of gold in exchange for 6.6 pounds.

Any of the scenarios does not include any transaction prices nor shipping costs, it is only theoretical.