Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2016 May 26

= May 26 =

Building at top of Mount of Olives
I'm confused about the buildings at the top of Mount of Olives in this photo. At the bottom left is a corner of the Church of All Nations, and in the centre is, I believe, the Church of Mary Magdalene. But I want to know what the buildings are that can be seen atop the mountain, with the flagpole. Also, what is the red-roofed building in front of (and a bit to the left of) the Church of Mary Magdalene? Finally, can the objects in the photo be triangulated to find out the lat/long coordinates from which it was shot? Mathew5000 (talk) 15:19, 26 May 2016 (UTC)
 * Poking around Street View in Google Maps, I'm 99% certain that's the Convent of St. Mary Magdalene, associated with the church. Just open Google Maps and zoom in on Gethsemane.  The Convent is marked on the map, and if you go into Street View and wander around the summit, you can confirm that's the building in question.  -- Jayron 32 15:36, 26 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I agree. Moreover, the picture appears to have been taken from Derech HaOfel, a little way south of its northernmost bend, at approximately 31° 46' 45.41" N, 35° 14' 16.22" E. AlexTiefling (talk) 15:55, 26 May 2016 (UTC)
 * The red-roofed building is between Gethsemane and the Church of Mary Magdalene. Triangulating it, it seems to be the building on the right here, next to the narrow alleyway.  I can't find any information on the name of it; it may be a private residence of some sort.  If you pan to the right a bit, there's a guide sign on the wall that has writing in several languages, the sign, however, seems to be describing a walking path to several sites, and has nothing about the building itself.  -- Jayron 32 16:14, 26 May 2016 (UTC)
 * You could be right, but I wonder why a Russian Orthodox convent would be flying the Israeli flag so prominently. I had assumed it was some kind of government building, but now I think (based on Googling "Israeli flag mount of olives") that it might be Ma'ale ha-Zeitim or Beit Hachoshen (בית החושן also known as Beit Hoshin or just Choshen). Mathew5000 (talk) 20:44, 29 May 2016 (UTC)

Advantage of currency depreciation
In case of Polish złoty, for example, I remember that back in early 2000s (around 2004) its exchange rate was around 3,2-3,3 PLN for 1 USD. Now it's 3,94 for 1 USD. Yet Polish expats working aboard, for instance, who earn in US dollars and send money back home apparently benefit from this kind of devaluation, since their relatives now exchange bucks at higher rate. Is there any name for this specific phenomenon in economics? Seemingly no mention of it in Currency appreciation and depreciation. Brandmeistertalk  17:44, 26 May 2016 (UTC)


 * 5 Potential Advantages of Currency Devaluation. Alansplodge (talk) 18:28, 26 May 2016 (UTC)


 * I don't think there's any more specific term for it than "an effect of currency depreciation". The hypothetical worker earns the same amount of USD, but this same amount now buys more PLN, so their family now has more PLN to spend. --71.110.8.102 (talk) 19:04, 26 May 2016 (UTC)


 * This is one, microeconomic, reflection of one of the main macroeconomic benefit of currency depreciation, i.e. exports become cheaper. In this case, Poland is exporting labour, and the depreciation of its currency means (i) a Polish worker is now more competitive internationally, because it will cost him or her less (in foreign currency terms) to provide his or her family back home with the same additional income in Polish currency terms; and (ii) if the international price for labour stays the same, then each unit of Polish labour time will earn more in Polish currency terms than before. In the same way, for example, the depreciation of Polisy currency will also make Poland's export of machines (i) more competitive; and/or (ii) bring more money in Polish currency terms. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 14:06, 27 May 2016 (UTC)
 * I can't see an article that covers devaluation for the purpose of boosting trade as such, but Currency war is relevant. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 14:55, 27 May 2016 (UTC)


 * "...arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets." A close parallel to OP's example (and PalaceGuard008's elucidation of it), using automobiles rather than labor, is given in the section on price convergence in the Arbitrage article.  (Just getting more value for Zlotys in Poland than Dollars in the USA would seem to be a simpler example of arbitrage, though the article doesn't make explicit mention of it.)--Wikimedes (talk) 18:25, 27 May 2016 (UTC)


 * It's fun for the kids and it provides job security for street sweepers and interesting opportunities for wallpaper designs. The Quixotic Potato (talk) 21:17, 27 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Earning money abroad and sending it home is called remittance, and this can be a substantial source of national income, especially for developing nations. StuRat (talk) 21:48, 27 May 2016 (UTC)


 * The advantages of depreciation are pretty well known - famously, the U.S. lambasted China for keeping the yuan low. But it's not all one way; for example deprecating the dollar ought to stimulate demand for exports, but I remember seeing reports that a weaker dollar raised the trade deficit by increasing the amount spent on imported oil instead. Wnt (talk) 16:44, 28 May 2016 (UTC)


 * Yes, things you need to import then become more expensive, perhaps prohibitively so. And, while exports become cheaper, if you were already exporting all you could produce, this doesn't help.  This is a severe problem in Venezuela right now.  See here.  There they export oil almost exclusively, and import just about everything else, due to government decisions (they wanted to destroy the private economy to establish state control over all businesses).  The incompetent socialist government there decided to just "print money" to pay off mounting debts, which caused hyperinflation, a devalued currency, and now extreme shortages.  Lower petroleum prices were the "straw that broke the camel's back".  And, rather than reform, they blame all their self-caused problems on the US, claiming an invasion is imminent. StuRat (talk) 15:45, 31 May 2016 (UTC)