This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on Geary-Khamis dollar is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
The Geary-Khamis dollar, also known as the international dollar, is a hypothetical unit of currency that has the same purchasing power that the U.S. dollar had in the United States at a given point in time. The year 1990 is often used as a benchmark year for comparisons that run through time.
It is based on the twin concepts of purchasing power parities (PPP) of currencies and the international average prices of commodities. It shows how much a local currency unit is worth within the country's borders. It is used to make comparisons both between countries and over time. For example, comparing per capita gross domestic product (GDP) of various countries in international dollars, rather than based simply on exchange rates, provides a more valid measure to compare standards of living. It was proposed by Roy C. Geary in 1958 and developed by Salem Hanna Khamis in 1970 to 1972.
The term, while not in widespread use, is sometimes used by international organizations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in their published statistics.
Figures expressed in international dollars cannot be converted to another country's currency using current market exchange rates; instead they must be converted using the country's PPP exchange rate used in the study.
References
- World Bank use of the term under definition of Purchasing Power Parity
- Nations and firms in the global economy Ch. 11 Globalization and economic growth
- Handbook Of The International Comparison Programme. Annex II - Methods Of Aggregation . Statistical definition at the UN United Nations Statistics Division . 2007
- Geary R.C. 1958. An International Comparison of National Products and Purchasing Power of Currencies OEEC, Paris
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 11 August 2008, at 18:26.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "Geary-Khamis dollar".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.