Question: Show how each of the following would affect the U.S. balance of payments. Include a description of the debit and credit items, and in each case identify which specific account is affected (e.g., imports of goods and services, IM; exports of assets, EXA; and so on. (For this question, you may find it helpful to refer to Appendix 1.)
a. A California computer manufacturer purchases a $50 hard disk from a Malaysian company, paying the funds from a bank account in Malaysia.
b. A U.S. tourist to Japan sells his iPod to a local resident for yen worth $100.
c. The U.S. central bank sells $500 million of its holdings of U.S. Treasury bonds to a British financial firm and purchases pound sterling foreign reserves.
d. A foreign owner of Apple shares receives $10,000 in dividend payments, which are paid into a New York bank.
e. The central bank of China purchases $1 million of export earnings from a firm that has sold $1 million of toys to the United States, and the central bank holds these dollars as reserves.
f. The U.S. government forgives a $50 million debt owed by a developing country.