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The effects of the spiritual goods in the balance of payments, adjustments in the balance of payments and the adjustments of the open economy macroeconomics. Dr Michel Zaki Guirguis 14/09/2014 Bournemouth University 1 Institute of Business and Law Fern Barrow Poole, BH12 5BB, UK Tel:0030-210-9841550 Mobile:0030-6982044429 Email: [email protected] Biographical notes I hold a PhD in Finance from Bournemouth University in the U.K. I have worked for several multinational companies including JP Morgan Chase and Interamerican Insurance and Investment Company in Greece. Through seminars, I learned how to manage and select the right mutual funds according to various clients needs. I supported and assisted the team in terms of six-sigma project and accounts reconciliation. Application of six- sigma project in JP Morgan Chase in terms of statistical analysis is important to improve the efficiency of the department. Professor Philip Hardwick and I have published a chapter in a book entitled “International Insurance and Financial Markets: Global Dynamics and Local Contingencies”, edited by Cummins and Venard at Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania in the US). I am working on several papers that focus on the Financial Services Sector. 1 I have left from Bournemouth University since 2006. The permanent address of the author’s is, 94, Terpsichoris road, Palaio – Faliro, Post Code: 17562, Athens – Greece. 1

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Page 1: Spiritual goods and international economics

The effects of the spiritual goods in the balance of payments, adjustments in the balance of payments and the adjustments of the open economy macroeconomics.

Dr Michel Zaki Guirguis 14/09/2014Bournemouth University1

Institute of Business and LawFern BarrowPoole, BH12 5BB, UKTel:0030-210-9841550Mobile:0030-6982044429Email: [email protected]

Biographical notes

I hold a PhD in Finance from Bournemouth University in the U.K. I have worked for several multinational companies including JP Morgan Chase and Interamerican Insurance and Investment Company in Greece. Through seminars, I learned how to manage and select the right mutual funds according to various clients needs. I supported and assisted the team in terms of six-sigma project and accounts reconciliation. Application of six-sigma project in JP Morgan Chase in terms of statistical analysis is important to improve the efficiency of the department. Professor Philip Hardwick and I have published a chapter in a book entitled “International Insurance and Financial Markets: Global Dynamics and Local Contingencies”, edited by Cummins and Venard at Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania in the US). I am working on several papers that focus on the Financial Services Sector.

Abstract1 I have left from Bournemouth University since 2006. The permanent address of the author’s is, 94, Terpsichoris road, Palaio – Faliro, Post Code: 17562, Athens – Greece.

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In this article, we are going to explain and analyze the balance of payments, the adjustments of the balance of payments and the adjustments of the open economy macroeconomics and integrate them within the framework of the building blocks of the Greek Orthodox Church. The purpose is to find the economic equilibrium point between receipts and payments. We will illustrate the transactions through a double entry ledger account by recording the debit and credit to sum to zero. The objective is to show in which accounts the Greek government should pay particular attention to be able to keep a sustainable surpluses for a medium period of time. The surplus recorded from the current account will be used to increase the reserves, financial aid and make investment in AFRICA to strengthen the local market. In the long run, we would like an equilibrium, which means that the country will not have a surplus or a deficit. The equilibrium situation means that the exchange rate will be stable, the debit and credit in the current account will equal, less unemployment, economic growth and the government will impose less import tariffs and quotas. The successful strategy is based on integrating the Greek Orthodox approach in account reconciliation in order to achieve a blessed result that everyone in the local market will benefit. Redistribution of income is based on the successful manipulation of thoughts. Financial success is based on planning and adjusting correctly the balance of payments and the open economy macroeconomics. The government should focus on strengthening the transactions of the four main categories. The transactions are classified into three main categories. The current account, the capital account, the financial account, and the subsidiary international investment position account. Our contribution to knowledge is to add another account related to the Greek Orthodox approach in terms of intellectual and spiritual integrity with the related variables. This account measures the spiritual wealth of the nation and its relation to the other countries. In addition, to the balance of payments the government should focus on full employment, keeping affordable price stability, increase interest rates for households’ bank deposits and controlling money supply and public expenditure through the monetary and fiscal policies. We want Greece to be a creditor nation with positive net international investment position in relation to the GDP and low international interest payments. Government expenditures should not exceed taxation revenues and international investments.

Keywords: Greek Orthodox church, spiritual father, manipulation of thoughts, Holy Trinity, Virgin Mary, Saints, balance of payments, adjustments of balance of payments, adjustments of the open economy macroeconomics.

Introduction

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The balance of payments shows the international financial position of the country and summarises the main economic transactions of Greece at a specific year with the rest of the world. The transactions are classified into three main categories. The current account, the capital account, the financial account, and the subsidiary international investment position account. Economic transactions that are recorded as exports and imports could be goods such as fruits, vegetables, poultry and financial or business services. A credit transaction means a receipt of a payment from abroad. In contrast, a debit transaction means a payment to abroad. The balance of payment is recording a deficit or a surplus. A deficit is when debits exceed credits in the main accounts. In contrast, a surplus occurs when credits exceed debits. Both debit and credit are used in a double entry ledger account to record the transactions of Greece in relation to a foreign country.

The adjustments of the balance of payments should be used in combination with the adjustment policies of the open economy macroeconomics. Both adjustments should be integrated within the Greek Orthodox approach to facilitate the life of the individual inside the society. In addition, the manipulation of thoughts and the building blocks of the Orthodox Church are used to safeguard the spiritual integrity and the inner peace of the individual. Macroeconomics policies that are used to adjust unemployment with deficit or surplus and achieve price stability are monetary and fiscal policies. We don’t want high unemployment and high deficit. The objective is to achieve full employment by giving equal opportunity to everyone to work and at the same time the balance of payment is recording surpluses. The worst scenario is increase of imports and reduction of short-term interest rates, which will affect the deposits, and savings accounts of the households. The aggregate demand of the households will decrease and capital outflow will be greater than capital inflow. In other words, there will be a decrease in foreign assets abroad and in Greece. To solve this problem, the government should distinguish between the business interest rates that should be very low to foster foreign investments and high interest rates for savings and deposits of the local households. If there is no such policy, then, the deficit will enlarge and the psychological problems will increase tremendously. The psychiatric doctors are going to make a fortune at the expense of the financially weak households. This is not the desired objective according to the Orthodox approach. We want that the day and the afternoon of the households are holy, peaceful and without sins plenty of repentance and confession. Thus, the government should facilitate this Orthodox direction through a successfully adjusted financial and economic strategy based on the accounts of the balance of payments and the macroeconomic indicators.

The problem in Greece is the supply side. Costs of output are high and uncompetitive in foreign markets. The exchange rate of Euro in relation to the other currencies is too high, which creates problem in the purchasing power of buying. The country is not importing enough machines and raw materials to build factories and produce products in the countryside with objective to export to Asia, Brazil and the USA.

The rest of the paper is organized as follows. Section 1 describes the building blocks of the Greek Orthodox Church. Section 2 describes the successful manipulation of thoughts. Section 3 describes the interrelation of the balance of payments and the adjustments with the Christian Orthodox approach. Section 4 describes the interrelation of open economy macroeconomics and the adjustments with the Christian Orthodox approach. Section 5 summarizes and concludes.

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1. Building blocks of the Greek Orthodox Church

The building blocks that constitute and sustain the faith of the Greek Orthodox Christian is the belief in the Holy Trinity, Holy communion, the powerful presence of Theotokos or Virgin Mary, the fleet of Saints in terms of hermits, ascetics, spiritual sacrifice, the David’s Psalms, Holy Bible, Byzantine music, fasting, the cross and the resurrection of Jesus - Christ.

The Holy Trinity is composed from the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. The unity in one person is not static but dynamic interrelation of the Holy Spirit under the roof of the grace of the son and the love of the father. The unity of the Holy Trinity supports you with harmony, love and peace of yourself, primarily, and then with the fellow - citizens and the environment.

The Holy Communion is an essential part of the Liturgy taken inside the church every Sunday and during celebration of Saints days. Repentance and confession, which constitute a second baptism, should take place before the Holy Communion. It helps the individual’s to strengthen his/her faith to the Holy Trinity and to protect him/her from the devil. If the individual commune the Divine Mysteries without the appropriate preparation that will be mentioned from the spiritual father then the sins become larger and worse.

Theotokos or Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus-Christ, occupies an essential place in the heart of the Greek Orthodox Church. It symbolizes the second Eve and selected from God to continue the salvation of the mankind through her son, who represents the new Adam. She protects the Christian Orthodox from the various types of demons and encourages him/her during difficult times with patience and faith. For a more detailed analysis of the various types of demons, please refer to the book of Saint John Sinaet (2006), named the Ladder. Unfortunately, the ancestral sin of Adam has destroyed the divine relationship and created disequilibrium in balancing the evil from the good thoughts. This condition or tendency of the heart towards sin remains even after the baptism has removed the ancestral sin. The mystery of Chrism, which follows the mystery of baptism, seals the newborn with the grace of the Holy Spirit. Thus, spiritual sacrifice with the grace of the Holy Spirit is the next step to stabilize the spiritual effort. It helps the person to reconcile and sustain a healthy mind through the examples of hermits, ascetics and Ηoly Fathers of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Spiritual sacrifice is defined in terms of rejecting personal will and following the will of God through the Ten Commandments. Fear, defined in a positive manner, not to break the commandments and keep an active ascetic profile is a substantial factor that keeps alive the faith towards God. At this point, it is worth to distinguish between obedience and pure discipline. Obedience created and based on love to approach God has complete different interpretation and result from the pure discipline that is cultivated and developed in other institutions. Obedience inside the Greek Orthodox Church has a positive and healthy characteristic. It is based on the freedom to approach the Holy Trinity through the applications of the Ten Commandments and continuous prays from the individual’s and the spiritual father. Pure discipline without religious characteristic has negative effects, as most of the time, is based on

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unbalancing power and imposition of force in a negative way to dominate on the situation. A good example, to mention is the Holy monk Porfirios that teaches us to pray for our children and fellow - colleagues when we face a problem with them. The results will be much better by approaching the Theotokos rather than by believing or depending solely on our capabilities. Obedience will help the individual to achieve various stages of spiritual successes. In addition, the individual’s need to learn how to recognize, manipulate the thoughts by rejecting the bad and accepting the good ones. This can only be achieved through prays to the Holy Trinity, Virgin Mary and the help that you get from the spiritual father.

The David’s Psalms contain different types of hymn to God. For example, Psalm 50 is a prayer for forgiveness and Psalm 136 is a hymn of thanksgiving. The Holy Bible comprised from the Old and New Testament is an essential core of the base of the Greek Orthodox Church. They display the main event of prophets, Jesus-Christ, his mother and the apostles.

Byzantine music constitutes a fundamental part of the Greek Orthodox Church. The Divine Liturgy, Vespers, the hymns of David’s Psalms, The lamentations, the small and great canons of the Theotokos and the service of the supplicatory canons to Archangels and Saints are based on Byzantine music. The requirements to protect one of our sense gates, such as hear, favour this type of music. It is essential to protect us from the evil thoughts, as we will see in the later section of the manipulation of thoughts.

Fasting is an integrated and essential part of the life of the Greek Orthodox Christian. During the ecclesiastical year, there are various periods of fasts. The main fasts are Wednesday’s and Friday’s fast, the fast before the birth of Jesus-Christ, the fast of Great Lent, the fast during the month of August, which is concerned with Virgin Mary, the elevation of the cross. All fasts and especially the fast of Great Lent, which starts with the Publican and the Pharisee Gospel passage, help the individuals to strengthen their faith and spiritual effort through continuous repentances and prostrations. Fast should be avoided if the person faces bodily illness. To fast or not has to be discussed and solved with the help of the spiritual father.

The cross and resurrection constitute the base of the win of Jesus-Christ from death. They are based on the belief that your spiritual effort in this life is a continuous condition that will count after your death, and will have an eternal characteristic. Thus, after your death, you can not change anything in terms of your actions, good or bad, that were reflected in your attitude, behaviour and saying that were seen or unseen. Death is just a temporary change of status until the judgment day. Thus, if the spiritual effort and less the physical is based on the commandments, sincere and fair progress throughout the life of person, under the supervision of the spiritual father, then, there are increased chances to safeguard the purity of the soul. The fact that, the author’s use the expression increased chances is because the life of the individual’s until his/her death is a continuous effort to safeguard the will of God with ultimate objective to save his/her soul. Thus, there are many spiritual falls and illnesses of the soul that could be recovered through the mystery of repentance followed by confession.

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On the other hand, if his/her effort was not based and blessed under the Holy Trinity and no confession took place in the whole phase of the life of the person, then, the reward will be eternal hell. By the term eternal hell, I mean the outer darkness, the unquenchable fire, the unsleeping worm and the gnashing of teeth followed by innumerable torments. Τhe remembrance of the term eternal hell helps tremendously every individual to obey better to the Ten Commandments and avoid a sinful lifestyle. The fact that the individual’s has compromised to stay in a sinful condition leads him/her to eternal hell. Thus, as God is love, it will be unfair to change the status or habits of the person and adapt him/her to new reality, namely, in the upper Jerusalem with the Saints. An excellent source of reference is the Sacred Augustine known as ‘the son of tears’. In the book written by Mperati (2005), there is a clear illustration of how poor decisions away from God can destroy the personality of the individual’s and how repentance and confession could save his/her soul.

2. The manipulation of thoughts

Thoughts constitute the invisible part of the mind of the person that is liable to the continuous flow of thousands of decisions that affect his/her life, the life of others and the results of his/her actions in the society. The organs constitute the human body and work in perfect harmony to sustain life. In a similar way, thoughts have to be regulated, structured and manipulated with the functioning of the heart to achieve equilibrium in terms of faith to the Holy Trinity. The problem is that after the ancestral sin, the mind has lost the initial pure functionality, which was to praise God and get divided into good, vain and evil thoughts. The biggest problem that we are facing, nowadays, is how to distinguish between them, balance them and isolate the evil thoughts that create substantial damage in our life in terms of the decisions that we take in a daily basis.

The golden rule, to firstly start this discussion, is that without the presence of God in terms of prays and guidance of the spiritual father under the Greek Orthodox Church, we can not trust and be totally sure that what we are thinking or saying is correct or good. The devil and the various demons could affect the will and ambition of the individual’s and captures him/her under a spirit of conceit or haughtiness. Lack of humility and the mixture of thoughts according to daily problems and circumstances create anxiety and despair, which should be avoided by continuous prays to Virgin Mary. The ultimate objective is our soul salvation. By setting our actions, as an example, we contribute to the salvation of the persons that are surrounding us irrelevant from their age, sex, religious background, nationality and literacy level.

Vain thoughts are created from the relaxation of the mind that God is not an active observer in our lives, hearts and thoughts. The lack of faith and deviation from the basic necessities of life reinforce vanity thoughts at the expense of the peace of the soul. The successors of vain thoughts are evil thoughts that start to erode the building blocks of the soul until the final destruction of the healthy functionality of the mind and the corruption of heart with evil thoughts.

Evil thoughts are derived from external and internal causes. The external causes are related to five senses such as sight, hear, smell, taste, and touch. Each sense has to be carefully monitored and protected through holy gates that are installed to each one according to his/her spiritual effort to keep and implement precisely the will of God.

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Thus, according to the degree of your effort you get blessed and better protected from indecent sights, obscene words and irritated perfumes. In addition, the person manages to control excess and beyond necessity food and drink and improper touches of his/her body with soft materials. They result to relaxations of the body and creations of improper fantasies and sinful thoughts.

The internal causes of evil thoughts are related to imagination, passions, demons, and the already corrupted nature created after that the ancestral sin took place. Let’s analyze each cause. Imagination, which is fed mainly by sight and hears, affects the way by which we perceive, understand and structure the images around us. It also affects our future prospect, consumption habits, and ambitions. The stimulus that affect our senses and create an internal picture of the external world has to be based on religious background in terms of fast, prays, and consultation with the spiritual father in a continuous basis. If the stimulus is wrong, then they are going to create a malfunction of the mind and erosion of the soul with many negative effects. As a result of the acceptance of bad thoughts, we can mention minimum efficiency, spiritual pollution and therefore physical pollution of the environment.

Passions created outside the Greek Orthodox Church creates negative externalities with high costs as there is no balance between the various emotions such as love, hate, pleasure and pain. The faith inside the Orthodox Church is to love God with all your heart, soul, power and intellect part of your mind. This is the first commandment. The second commandment is to love your neighbour as you love yourself. The face of the fellow-citizen reflects the Holy Trinity. The first two commandments are very important to understand that the person is image or picture of God with ultimate objective to achieve resemblance. Thus, the various emotions are eliminated or better controlled as they are managed in line with the Commandments. Once the individual manage to get blessing from the application of the first two Commandments, then, he/she will progress towards the application of the remaining eight Commandments. Finally, the individual’s will get help to balance the various emotions with the help of the spiritual father and the examples that the Holy Fathers of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Demons analyzed in an excellent way in the book of Saint John Sinaet (2006). This book is a masterpiece that teaches you the art to defend yourself from evil thoughts. He teaches you how to stop the various attacks and get out from the various snares that the demons are trying to set up around the individual’s heart. They are trying to steal the treasure from the inner part of the roots of the person heart with ultimate objective to lead and sustain him/her in a sinful situation until his/her death. Τhey try to take advantage from the fact that passions are recrudescent. Thus, they are trying to guarantee that the individual’s will get eternal hell rather than salvation of his/her soul.

Finally, it is the already corrupted human nature after the fall from paradise and recorded as the ancestral sin. The purity of the soul, intellect and innocent understanding of life has been eroded and shacked substantially. The evil thoughts started to occupy a predetermined place in the mind, heart and soul of various persons. The lack of proper faith, in terms of a Greek Orthodox Approach, that is trying to find an equilibrium point to reconcile the damage, has resulted to even worse results. People are loosing their identity in a daily basis. Globalization of different

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cultures, ideas and nationalities without an integrated roof of clear guidelines of a viable religious approach has created further complexity. The success of decisions making in terms of economic, social, and religious outcomes will have to be based upon our interaction with the Orthodox Church primarily. For a detailed analysis of the manipulation of thoughts and senses please refer to Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite (1819).

Section 3 describes the interrelation of the balance of payments and the adjustments with the Christian Orthodox approach

The balance of payment is the first impression or the picture of the international position of Greece abroad. It shows the international financial position of the country at a specific year and summarises the economic transactions of Greece with the rest of the world.

Receipts of money from a foreign country is recorded as a credit and displayed with a positive sign. In contrast, outflows of money are recorded as debits and are recorded with a negative sign. When a deficit occurs, then, total debits exceed total credits. In contrast, when total credits exceed total debits a surplus occurs. This is a double entry system in accounting. Financial transactions in terms of debit are offset by the credit entry. The difference by summing these two types of transactions is equal to zero. The balance of payments is comprised from the current account, the capital account, the financial account, and the subsidiary international investment position account. Our contribution to knowledge is to add another account related to the Greek Orthodox approach in terms of intellectual and spiritual integrity with the related variables. The elements or variables of this account are strong faith towards the Holy Trinity, Virgin Mary, repentance, confession, Holy Communion, prayers, fast, prostrations, vigil, almsgiving, rejection of personal will, appreciate Byzantine music, and humility. This account measures the spiritual wealth of the nation and its relation to the other Christian countries in terms of almsgiving or financial aid that is done from the Greek government to African or European countries. The main focus should be to Central, West and East African countries, as they are facing famine and poor quality of water and infrastructure. This account should be linked with the reserve and capital account of the National Bank of Greece. For example, the capital account is related to direct investments of hospitals, buildings or factories abroad. The receipt of payments from the African countries to the National Bank of Greece will be done through the intervention of the Financial Derivatives from the Greek, the USA, the UK, and the Australian market. In other words, an integration of the Financial Derivatives account of the balance of payments from different countries will aim to foster growth and development in Africa. For example, the Greek government is helping Freetown in Sierra – Leone by sending to the central bank of the Sierra – Leone government the amount of 500,000,000 Euros. The ledger account of the transaction is as follows:

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Financial aid to Sierra – Leone in terms of spiritual wealth and almsgiving account

Greek current account

Exports 500 million Euros (Credit transaction)Gift payment from the reserves – 500 million Euros (Debit transaction) 0

Sierra – Leone current account

Imports - 500 million Euros (Debit transaction)Gift receipt from Greece 500 million Euros (Credit transaction) 0

Financial aid to China, Japan and Taiwan in terms of almsgiving account to help the beggars and the prostitutes

Greek current account

Exports 500 billion Euros (Credit transaction)Gift payment from the reserves – 500 billion Euros (Debit transaction) 0

China, Japan and Taiwan current account

Imports - 500 billion Euros (Debit transaction)Gift receipt from Greece 500 billion Euros (Credit transaction) 0

Payments are represent with a minus signs and receipts with a positive sign. When exporting goods for financial aid we credit the current account balance and when importing we debit the current account. Thus, the total should equal to zero.

Another example is exporting goods and services to build plants, buildings and factories from Greece to Sierra – Leone for the amount of 800,000,000 million Euros. The double entry transaction will be to credit the current account of export of goods and services with the amount of 800,000,000 million Euros and debit the receipt of money or capital account outflows with the same amount.

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Greek current and capital account

Exports 800 million Euros (Credit transaction)Capital account outflow – 800 million Euros (Debit transaction) 0

Sierra – Leone current and capital account

Imports - 800 million Euros (Debit transaction)Capital account inflow 800 million Euros (Credit transaction) 0

Towards, this direction the IMF should help Greece to allocate around 500,000 Euros of SDRs to the Greek reserve account. Thus, Greece credits its account by 500,000 Euros, as it receives payment from abroad and debits its reserve account by 500,000 Euros. Thus, the balance equals to zero.

Greek reserve account

Greek reserve assets - 100,000 Euros (Debit transaction)IMF reserve assets 100,000 Euros (Credit transaction) 0

IMF reserve account account

IMF reserve assets - 100,000 Euros (Debit transaction)Greek reserve assets 100,000 Euros (Credit transaction) 0

Another example is that Greece exports 100,000 Euros of goods to Italy in exchanges for 100,000 of services

Greek current account

Exports 100,000 Euros (Credit transaction)Imports of services – 100,000 Euros (Debit transaction) 0

Italy current account

Imports of goods - 100,000 Euros (Debit transaction)Exports of services 100,000 Euros (Credit transaction) 0

The money that is received or spent should be aligned with the Greek Christian Orthodox principles in such a way that will guarantee that our day is holy, peaceful

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and without sins. Thus, inflows and outflows from the reserves should aim to facilitate the life of the individual to maximise his/her spiritual integrity and following a less sinful lifestyle until they manage to increase their virtues. The same principle applies for investment portfolio and deposits in financial institutions. Table 1 shows an example of the balance of payments of Greece for the first quarter of 2014 expressed in $ millions.

Table 1 shows an example of the balance of payments of Greece for the first quarter of 2014 expressed in $ millions.

Three categories of accounts

2014 Quarter 1

US millions

Debit exceed creditDeficit (-)millions

Credit exceed debitSurplus (+)

millionsCurrent accountTrade in goods and services,(exports, imports)Trade in services, (exports, imports)Income, ( earnings, compensation of employees, and investment income)Current transfers, (receipts and payments from the government and foreign funds)Current balance -1,474.13

Capital accountCapital transfers from the central government and from abroad, debt foregiveness, non-financial assets, project grants and foreign wealth.Capital account balance

2,001.29

Financial account Direct investment, (equity capital, reinvested earnings)Portfolio investment, (equity securities, debt securities, assets

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and liabilities side)Financial Derivatives,(options, futures, swaps, hedge funds)Other investment, (trade credits, loans, currency and deposits)Reserve assets, (gold and foreign exchange reserves , reserve position in the IMF, reinvested earnings, special drawing rights holdings or SDR, total reserves minus gold)Financial account balance

1,852.14

Net errors and omissions

1,324.98

International investment position, (IIP)Total IIP Assets 300,374.06Total IIP Liabilities 589,255.07Net IIP results -288,881.01Exchange rate reconciliation

96.276

Source: UK office for national statistics. IMF statistics. Credit entries include exports, income received, transfers that are offsets to debit entries, financial liabilities of Greece to non – residents. Debit entries include imports, income payable, transfers that are offsets to credit entries, financial claims of Greece on non- residents.

The current account comprises of the trade in goods and services account, the income account and current transfers. A difference in the monetary value of these accounts is known as the current account balance. A current account balance is in surplus if overall credits exceed debits and in deficit if debits exceed credits. In the case of Greece the current balance is negative and the amount is -1,474.13 US millions. There were substantial capital inflows in Greece to offset the current account deficit. The capital account balance accounted to 2,001.29 US millions.

The policy adjustment of the deficit or surplus could be achieved through the depreciation or appreciation of the currency supply, by changing the prices of the gold supply or by selecting goods and services that are blessed from the Greek Orthodox

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Church. Due to their spiritual integration and branding, they will become very popular abroad and therefore the exports will increase substantially.

The current account balance measures the extent to which Greece is a net lender, namely, surplus or net borrower, namely, deficit. The purpose is to reduce the net borrowing intervals between the quarters. This could be due to the total income deficit, total trade and total current transfers deficits. The problem of deficit could be overcome through increase in the direct investment surplus and decrease in the portfolio investment deficit. The current accounts and the net international and investment position indicate that Greece is a net borrower with low financial credibility. The liabilities are higher than the assets. The Financial account balance shows an improvement and a positive sign of 1,852.14 millions US.

A successful strategy is an increase in receipts in millions and decrease in payments in millions. In other words, credits exceed debits and the balance is recording a surplus. There is also a section related to errors and omissions for transactions that are not correct and exchange rate reconciliations. The net errors and omissions accounted to 1,324.98 $ millions. Transactions should be converted to the spread of bid and ask price of the exchange rate to reflect the current value in Euros for the transactions nominated in foreign currencies. In addition, it should be policy adjustment to the price of the gold. The investment income account covers earnings such as profits, dividends and interest payments and receipts from foreign investment in financial assets and liabilities. Credits or surplus is the earnings from Greek residents from their investment abroad and other foreign assets. Debits or deficit are the earnings of foreign residents from their investments in Greece.

Portfolio investment income recorded a positive sign and earnings from other investment decreased substantially. The deficit on current transfers widened.

Financial account showed a net inflow of foreign investment. Direct investment recorded a net inflow in relation to a net outflow. Financial assets and liabilities are valued at their current market price. Greece has recorded more liabilities than assets.Direct investment abroad and reinvested earnings increased in millions between the quarters. Portfolio investment recorded a net inflow.

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The following graphs show the curves of the spiritual goods and their policy adjustment through the intervention of the spiritual father.

The spiritual goods or variables that constitutes and support the faith of the orthodox individual are strong faith towards the Holy Trinity, Virgin Mary, repentance, confession, Holy Communion, pprayers, fast, prostrations, vigil, almsgiving, rejection of personal will, appreciate Byzantine music, humility and strong belief that Jesus – Christ was resurrected.

Graph 1 Adjustments with the help of Faith towards the Holy the spiritual father through Trinity repentance, confession and Holy Communion.

TimeThere are cases that the adjustments took long time for the individual to adjust and are supported from continuous prayers and fasting from the spiritual father.

Graph 2 Adjustments with the help of theFaith towards Virgin spiritual father through Mary repentance, confession and Holy Communion.

Time

There are cases that the adjustments took long time for the individual to adjust and are supported from continuous prayers and fasting from the spiritual father.

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The same applying for the rest of the variables that constitutes the Christian Orthodox approach. The only difference is the variable humility, which has a downward curve.

Graph 3 Humility

Adjustments through the help of the spiritual father.

Time

There are cases that the adjustments took long time for the individual to adjust and are supported from continuous prayers and fasting from the spiritual father.

The Greek Orthodox account with the supported variables is aimed to strengthen the spiritual and financial position of the African countries though sustainable financial packages and Orthodox infrastructure. Two key elements are marginal propensity to save and to export to cover the needs of the African countries. The key elements should be adjusted with external and internal prices for the appropriate adjustments of the accounts. They should also be combined with appreciation or depreciation of the Euro currency in relation to foreign currencies and by the demand and supply of the interval spread of the gold. In case that Greece wants to increase the short-term deposit interest rates for the households, then the government should reduce the money supply and sell part of the gold reserves to boost capital inflow. Sometimes, it is required to eliminate the deficit by depreciating the domestic currency by 10% to 20%. For example, a depreciation of the EURO /USD = 1.32 or 1 Euro = $ 1.32 to 1 Euro = $ 1. 40. Exports become less expensive and more competitive in the global market and imports become more expensive in the local market. Thus, Greece will import more goods from the USA and, therefore, the current account of Greece will start to record a deficit. In contrast, the products of Greece become less competitive in the foreign market and importing them becomes expensive to the USA. In contrast, a revaluation will have the opposite effects. For example, an appreciation of the EURO /USD = 1.32 or 1 Euro = $ 1.32 to 1 Euro = $ 1. 20. The US goods become less competitive in Greece. In this case, Greece could increase the level of its exports and start to record a surplus in the current account. Therefore, Greece could eliminate the balance of payments deficit through depreciation of the Euro currency, imposing tariffs and quotas on imports and deflation to minimize the aggregate demand.

To sum –up currency fluctuations are very important factor as they determine the price levels and the amount of exports, imports, and earnings of the balance of payments of Greece with the rest of the world. A devaluation or revaluation of a

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domestic currency in relation to a foreign creates the price and volume effects in relation to elasticities. Under the elasticity approach of balance of payments the sum of the elasticities of imports and exports should increase in order to decrease the deficit. The elasticity of the volume of exports should be higher than of the volume of imports to push the balance from a deficit to a surplus. They should be calculated regularly to control the deficit. We will illustrate a simple example of supply and demand of the quantity of money in Greece.

Graph 4 shows the price levels and the quantity of money supply equilibrium after adjusting a deficit of current account export of goods

Price Supply A Supply B

P Equilibrium

Demand

Q Quantity Source: author’s illustration

Graph 5 shows the J – curve effect after a depreciation of the Euro currency in Greece

TradeBalance J - curveSurplus

0 Time

Deficit

Source: author’s illustration

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According to graph 5, the trade balance of Greece deteriorates due to the depreciation before it starts to improve as the time passes. This happens because the Euro currency of imports increases faster than exports. After a certain period of time, the quantity of exports increase and the quantity of imports decrease and the prices offset each other. It is names as J – curve because the line looks like the letter J.

Section 4 describes the interrelation of open economy macroeconomics and the adjustments with the Christian Orthodox approach

The adjustment policies of the open economy macroeconomics aim to stabilize the price level of imports and exports and foster growth inside Greece by adopting an expansionary fiscal policy. The purpose is to increase expenditure and public spending to build universities with European standards and with the latest technological infrastructure. The buildings have to be large, with vast area of green, sport activities and large libraries of many floors. The decoration of the university has to have the same standards as the quality of teaching. I have noticed that the Greek universities are dirty without maintenance and the student union is lacking the appropriate management. They are printing a wide variety of wallpapers and they are wasting a lot of money. The budget should be controlled and the additional funds should be directed to the prostitutes, to the beggars and to the poors.

The government has to provide a large part of receipts and revenues towards a modern educational system with fewer barriers to entry and high flexibility to move along the academic levels and hierarchy. Then, the monetary policy should focus to increase money supply and attract foreign direct investments to increase the capital and current account of the balance of payments. On the other hand, the interest rates for short-term deposits should increase in order to protect the capital of the unemployed population. The focus is to align population growth with new industries and new investments to increase the diversity of job opportunities. Greece has very restricted market policy and few persons benefit to work. The rest of the population are staying home and job is a luxury good for them. I am very sorry to say that but the design of the country in terms of business expansion and opportunities are very limited and restricted to a small oligopoly. Towards this direction, the Greek Orthodox Church will have to play an important role to adjust the macro policies with the Greek national bank to foster full employment, make sure that the immigrants from USA, Germany, UK and Australia return safely back home and have related jobs as abroad. In other words, the level of job standards in Greece will have to be the same as in the other foreign countries. Towards this direction a first class communication will be established between the government, the Orthodox Church and the unemployed households. We do not want anymore barriers in the communication process, dirty political propaganda and unachievable promises based on words only.

The whole process will be supported by the devaluation of the exchange rate in order to improve the balance of trade and improve the repayment of the accounting payables. We want that Greece is a net lender and records surplus and not to become net borrower and record a deficit. The IS curve should be used to display the relationship between the different interest rates and national income to achieve equilibrium in the good market. The LM curve should be used to display the

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relationship of the different short to long-term interest rates and income to achieve equilibrium in the money market. Fiscal policy will move the IS curve to the right in case of expansion and increase of public expenditure and lowering taxes. In contrast, the IS curve will shift to the left in case of contraction in the good market. On the other hand, monetary policy will shift the LM curve to the right when the adopted policy is ease and to the left when the policy is tight. The IS, LM curve and the balance of payments are used together to achieve equilibrium and full employment at a given national income. We will include the Orthodox variables to make sure that the equilibrium is sustained continuously.

Graph 6 illustrates the relationship of the IS, LM curve the balance of payments trading account and the Orthodox variables.

Interest rate (r) Balance trade line

Equilibrium LM1

Orthodox variablesrE LM0

Humility

IS0 IS1

0 YE Income ( Y) Source: author’s illustration

The Greek government should pay particular attention to this graph to incorporate the Greek Orthodox variables with the macro factors and the trade balance to achieve equilibrium with full employment at a given interest and national income rate. The trading balance represents the difference between receipts for exports and expenditure on imports of goods. A surplus balance indicates that the Greek country earned more from exporting than importing goods.

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As an example to show the equilibrium between the IS – LM, we use the following systems of simultaneous equations:

IS equilibrium: Y = C + I Y = 40 + 0.7Y + 80 – 70i Y - 0.7Y = 40 + 80 – 70i 0.3Y + 70i -120 = 0 (1)

LM equilibrium: Ms = 0.7Y + 40 – 100i 100 = 0.7Y + 40 – 100i 0.7Y – 60 – 100i = 0 (2)

Where: Y is the national income i is the interest rate I is the investment level Ms is the money supply C is expenditure on consumption

We solve the simultaneous equations (1) and (2)

0.3Y + 70i -120 = 00.7Y – 100i – 60 = 0

We multiply equation (1) by 7 and equation (2) by 3 and we subtract to eliminate Y. Thus, we have the following system of equations:

2.1 Y + 490i – 840 = 02.1 Y – 300i – 180 = 0 0 790i - 660 = 0

790 i = 660i = 0.84

We then substitute i to equation (1) to find Y. Thus, we have:

0.3Y + 70 (0.84) – 120 = 00.3Y + 58.8 – 120 = 00.3Y - 61.2 = 00.3Y = 61.2Y = 61.2 / 0.3 = 204 millions

Thus, the good and the money market will be in equilibrium when Y = 204 and i =0.84.

The Orthodox variables in addition to the balance of payments have to be adjusted to the equilibrium level to achieve maximum spiritual integrity. Investment is dependent from the interest rates and changes in national income. In microeconomics level the

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consumption is dependent upon the disposable income. Both consumption and disposable income have to be adjusted to serve the principles of the Greek Christian Orthodox approach. In addition, investments, government spending and exports should equal to imports, savings and taxes. This equality is a prerequisite to achieve equilibrium in the national income. We will extend the model by adding the spiritual variables that constitute the Orthodox approach. Thus, we will have:

Faith towards the Holy Trinity + Virgin Mary + repentance +confession + Holy Communion+ prayers + fast + prostrations + vigil + almsgiving + rejection of personal will + appreciate Byzantine music, and humility + investments + government spending + exports = savings + taxes + imports.

Another example to illustrate the equilibrium function is as follows:

Y = C + I + G

Where: Y is national income I is investment C is consumption G is government expenditure

The Greek Orthodox approach should adjust the government spending, investment and consumption to facilitate the life of the individuals inside the Greek society to have equal job opportunities in order to safeguard the Orthodox principles. Another equilibrium function is the saving function, which is related to interest rates and money supply.

S = r + MsAndS = Yd - C

Where S is saving r is interest rates Ms is money supply Yd is disposable income C is consumption

Saving is directly related to interest rates and money supply. The biggest problem that we are facing since the establishment of the EMU is the decrease of interest rates to foster investment. The continuous decrease of interest rates results to zero saving, which creates a tremendous problem to the unemployed household, as there is no available sources of income after taxes. The Greek Orthodox Church should pay particular attention to the saving approach as the households instead of Orthodox peace feel serious pressure associated with blame and psychological problems. In other words, the households could not lead a basic quality living standards associated with maximum spiritual integrity. Nowadays, the Orthodox Church is isolated from the current problems that the households feel and experience in their daily lives. Prayers should be combined with a democratic Orthodox approach that is based on first class communication between the priests, the government and the households. Saving is also explained as the difference between disposable income and

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consumption. In Greece, we have a terrible problem of unemployment. The very low disposable income could not be adjusted to increase savings and cover the basic expenses. Thus, consumption is very low.

Particular attention, the Greek government should pay to investments, government spending and exports. The estimated GDP is given by the formula:GDP = C + I +G +(X-M)Where: GDP is the estimated gross domestic product. C is consumption. I is investment. G is government spending. X is exports. M is imports.

The investment in educational buildings and investment banks should be around 5 trillions Euros. Government spending should be around 500 billion Euros. Exports should be around 100 billion Euros and imports around 4 million Euros. Consumption should be around 10 billion Euros.

Section 5 summarizes and concludes

In this article, we have explained analyzed and debated the balance of payments, the adjustments of the balance of payments and the adjustments of the open economy macroeconomics. We have extended the traditional structure of the balance to incorporate and integrate Orthodox variables within the framework of the building blocks of the Greek Orthodox Church. The IS, LM curve and the balance of payments are used together to achieve equilibrium and full employment at a given national income and interest rate. We have included the Orthodox variables to make sure that the equilibrium is sustained continuously. The successful strategy is based on integrating the Greek Orthodox approach in account reconciliation in order to achieve a blessed result that everyone in the local market will benefit. Redistribution of income is based on the successful manipulation of thoughts. Spiritual and financial successful decisions should be addressed within a Greek Christian religious and governmental context.

Bibliography

Mperati Theodoros, (2005). The son of tears, (the Sacred Augustine). Edited by the theological brotherhood Sotir.

Saint John Sinaet, (2006). The Ladder. Edited by the Holy monastery Paraklitou.

Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite, (1819). Consulting Manual. It was first published in 1819, in the first book named interpretation of the fourteen manuscripts of Saint-Paul.

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