Economic crisis

The World Economy and Exchange Rates

2009-06-23T06:56:00.000-07:00

The inertia of 1990's global economic slowdown will keep 1991's real GDP growth at 1.0 percent - the weighted average of 1.3 percent for the developed economies, 2.6 percent for the developing countries (LDC's), and 4.4 percent for Central Europe and the USSR. World economic growth in 1990-91 is the trough in the business cycle that last peaked in 1988 and which is projected to slope upward starting in 1992. A recovery to 3.3 percent in real GDP growth in 1992 will reflect rebounds in the developed economies of 1.8 percent, 2.7 percent in the LDC's, and 3.9 percent in Central Europe and the USSR.

Inflation is projected to subside substantially in 1991, and by more in 1992. Weaker overall demand, and crude oil prices at or under $20 per barrel, will slow increases in consumer prices, which should eventually lead to real output gains in 1992 for most countries. Significant recoveries in economic activity are expected in North America, Latin America, and the Middle East in 1992. Central Europe and the USSR will remain in recession. Stronger growth in Asia will be driven by a 14-percent nominal gain in export earnings in 1992, a portion of which derives from Japan's increased import demand.

Agricultural commodity prices have trended downward since 1989. Both agricultural raw materials and food have lost 11.2 and 8.8 percent, respectively, of their values from 1989. Current prices for food are only 8 percent higher than in 1985, whereas raw materials prices are still 30 percent higher. Sagging world demand, large crop harvests, and tighter worldwide money have pushed inflation down and dragged agricultural commodity prices down as well. Agricultural export subsidies could potentially increase if GATT negotiations do not succeed, bringing further deterioration in agricultural trade and prices.

Forex Trading: What is Forex

2009-06-16T02:03:00.000-07:00

Foreign exchange market or Forex is the market for buying and selling currencies. Currencies from all over the word can be traded in Forex which is an OTC (over the counter) market. The Forex market is loosely regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The National Futures Association (NFA) has regulatory authority over retail brokers and market makers.

Forex, the most liquid market in the world operates round the clock. Cross Rate: In the forex market currencies are always quoted in pairs. For example .709471 EUR/USD means that 1$=.709471 EURO. When USD is not one of the currencies whose exchange rate is being determined, the exchange rate is referred to as the cross rate. pip:The smallest price movement in a currency is called a pip (percentage in point). Profits are measured in terms of pips. For the EUR/USD pair, 1 pip=.0001.

Hence if EUR/USD increases by 1% it would mean an increase of 100pips. Bid-Ask Spread:The difference between the bid (trader's sale price or the dealer's cost price) and the ask (trader's cost price or the dealer's sale price) is called the spread. The bid and ask are quoted in pairs. For example .709474-71 EUR/USD would mean that .709474 is the bid price and .709471 is the ask price. Market makers quote both bid and ask prices and profit from the bid ask spread

Forex trading

2009-06-12T03:32:00.000-07:00

The investor's goal in Forex trading is to profit from foreign currency movements. Forex trading or currency trading is always done in currency pairs. For example, the exchange rate of EUR/USD on Aug 26th, 2003 was 1.0857. This number is also referred to as a "Forex rate" or just "rate" for short. If the investor had bought 1000 euros on that date, he would have paid 1085.70 U.S. dollars. One year later, the Forex rate was 1.2083, which means that the value of the euro (the numerator of the EUR/USD ratio) increased in relation to the U.S. dollar.

The investor could now sell the 1000 euros in order to receive 1208.30 dollars. Therefore, the investor would have USD 122.60 more than what he had started one year earlier. However, to know if the investor made a good investment, one needs to compare this investment option to alternative investments. At the very minimum, the return on investment (ROI) should be compared to the return on a "risk-free" investment. One example of a risk-free investment is long-term U.S. government bonds since there is practically no chance for a default, i.e. the U.S. government going bankrupt or being unable or unwilling to pay its debt obligation.

When trading currencies, trade only when you expect the currency you are buying to increase in value relative to the currency you are selling. If the currency you are buying does increase in value, you must sell back the other currency in order to lock in a profit. An open trade (also called an open position) is a trade in which a trader has bought or sold a particular currency pair and has not yet sold or bought back the equivalent amount to close the position.

However, it is estimated that anywhere from 70%-90% of the FX market is speculative. In other words, the person or institution that bought or sold the currency has no plan to actually take delivery of the currency in the end; rather, they were solely speculating on the movement of that particular currency.

Home Prices May Keep Falling in US

2009-06-07T03:56:00.000-07:00

Why Home Prices May Keep Falling, by Robert Shiller, Commentary, NY Times: Home prices in the United States have been falling for nearly three years, and the decline may well continue for some time.

Even the federal government has projected price decreases through 2010. As a baseline, the stress tests recently performed on big banks included a total fall in housing prices of 41 percent from 2006 through 2010. ...

Such long, steady housing price declines seem to defy both common sense and the traditional laws of economics, which assume that people act rationally and that markets are efficient. ... If people acted as the efficient-market theory says they should, prices would come down right away, not gradually over years, and these cycles would be much shorter.

But something is definitely different about real estate. Long declines do happen with some regularity. And ... we still appear to be in a continuing price decline. ... Why does this happen? One could easily believe that people are a little slower to sell their homes than, say, their stocks. But years slower?

Several factors can explain the snail-like behavior of the real estate market. An important one is that sales of existing homes are mainly by people who are planning to buy other homes. So even if sellers ... have no reason to hurry because they are not really leaving the market.

Furthermore, few homeowners consider exiting the housing market for purely speculative reasons. ... And they don’t like shifting from being owners to renters... Among couples...,... any decision to sell and switch to a rental requires the assent of both partners. Even growing children, who may resent being shifted to another school district and placed in a rental apartment, are likely to have some veto power.

In fact, most decisions to exit the market in favor of renting are not market-timing moves. Instead, they reflect the growing pressures of economic necessity. This may involve foreclosure or just difficulty paying bills, or gradual changes in opinion about how to live in an economic downturn. This dynamic helps to explain why, at a time of high unemployment, declines in home prices may be long-lasting...

Even if there is a quick end to the recession, the housing market’s poor performance may linger. After the last home price boom, which ended about the time of the 1990-91 recession, home prices did not start moving upward, even incrementally, until 1997.

President Barack Obama Confronts The Global Economic Crisis

2009-06-02T00:35:00.000-07:00

As the global economy implodes, there remains the “audacity of hope,” or rather the author of the best selling book with that title, now 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. If anything, the whole world, not just the U.S., is placing its hopes-and bets-on President Obama to provide the change in leadership believed necessary to bring the raging Global Economic Crisis under control. Will these global hopes in Barack Obama be realized?No doubt, President Barack Obama is an exceptionally intelligent man. He has a flexible mind and superb communications skills, essential for inspiring confidence in times of crisis. However, it must be recognized that the global financial and economic catastrophe that began in America and is now consuming the globe may be of such virulence and persistence, it is beyond the powers of any single mortal man, no matter how gifted, to vanquish.
We must remember that not even Barack Obama walks on water, though a miracle worker is perhaps the only human being that can terminate the Global Economic Crisis with rapidity and no further pain. The approach adopted by Obama so far in confronting the economic crisis, though manifesting a clear realization of its seriousness, is also impeded by a conventionality that may be his biggest obstacle.

As with the other boilerplate responses from political leaders across the globe, the Obama administration is proposing a massive stimulus package, dubbed the “American Economic Recovery Plan,” financed with borrowed money. This follows a previous injection of borrowed money, $700 billion for TARP, supposedly essential for rescuing the banks. It is now clear that the $700 billion TARP spending frenzy was a fiasco. As has since been admitted by top Treasury Department officials, Hank Paulson, former Treasury Secretary, pulled the $700 billion out of thin air, because he wanted a “big number” to impress the markets. Such a cavalier attitude towards stampeding Congress into borrowing a staggering amount of money, equivalent to roughly $2,500 from every American man, woman and child, without any strings attached on the part of the banks receiving the money, explains its total failure to resuscitate the clogged arteries of the U.S. credit system. This example is not an encouraging harbinger for another dose of heavy deficit spending in a hurry by Washington.

The Obama Plan envisions $825 billion in borrowed money for a variety of projects and tax cuts. Though Obama promises a much higher level of accountability with his stimulus package than with TARP, that is not even the most crucial issue. It is the whole premise of Obama’s economic plan. What are the parameters and assumptions that led to a figure of $825 billion? On top of the already ballooning federal budget deficit, can the U.S. government raise another $825 billion from largely foreign credit markets (e.g. China), and at what interest rates? What if the Obama Plan has no significant impact on rapidly eroding macroeconomic indicators, while the exploding national debt and structural deficits remove any other fiscal options from consideration?

The proper context for President Barack Obama to view the Global Economic Crisis is not just as a catastrophe for the U.S. and world economy, but also as the gravest danger to American national security. If the Obama administration had a broad enough intellectual horizon to comprehend that the erosion in American geopolitical power that would inevitably result from the implosion of its economy is a far greater threat than what emanates from a non-state actor with a few thousand adherents, namely Al-Qaeda, it would review the irrationally excessive U.S. military budget.

Needs Grow As Economic Crisis Spreads

2009-05-13T03:06:00.000-07:00

How is the economic crisis affecting you?

Most of us are feeling it in some way. We're thinking harder about what we can afford and what we can do without. Routine purchases a few months ago now seem unnecessary or out of financial reach.

This tenor of uncertainty has spread all over the world, to millions of families that Mercy Corps serves. They worry about the same things we do: how to pay bills, put food on the table and take care of their children.

But, for families in places like Central African Republic and Indonesia, rising prices for things like food and fuel can be catastrophic. It's difficult for most of us to imagine: When we're asked to pay more at the grocery store, it's hard for us — but for those living on just $1 a day, it can be a matter of life and death.

To cope, many parents postpone their children's education just to keep their families fed. They put off health care needs to pay for basic utilities. They postpone dreams or stop saving money — because there's nothing extra to save. And some even choose which days of the week they eat — or who in the family can eat on a given day — because there's just not enough to go around.

From the forgotten corners of the world to right here at home, we're sharing solutions and keeping the flame of hope burning bright. Here are three stories about how Mercy Corps continues to respond and help:

Sophie Gbellet, an African businesswoman, struggles to sell goods at the market and support her 13 children as the country's economy faces near-collapse.
A Jakarta couple squeezes its family of six into a tiny dwelling, paying an exorbitant share of income just for water that's not 100-percent safe.

As sales plummet and gas prices soar, a passionate Portland entrepreneur struggles to keep her dream alive with some help from Mercy Corps' microlending services.

Mercy Corps has stepped up its programs to help people cope with the economic crisis. We work directly with poor families to find solutions for their communities. We're helping them put food on the table, find jobs, protect their health and keep their kids in school through tough times.

But needs are growing as the crisis spreads: millions of people are sinking deeper into poverty. We can't ignore the tremendous impact this crisis is having on the world's poorest communities. We need to act now.

How can you help these families weather the economic crisis? Read their stories, then consider a gift to help make their lives a little easier. In times like these, an act of kindness is felt all the way around the world.

The economic crisis

2009-05-07T00:04:00.000-07:00

What is workers' control??

following the recent state take-over of financial giants, Ian Birchall reveals the limits of nationalisation, and why socialists stand for a different vision – that of workers’ control
Can you do your job better than your boss could do it? Ask yourself this question. Ask your friends and workmates. Nine out of ten people will answer with a resounding and contemptuous “yes”.
Yet this question leads to the very heart of what we mean by socialism. Our society divides us into two basic classes. On the one hand there are those who make the things and provide the services we all need. On the other there are those who decide what shall be produced and provided in order to make the greatest profits.
All too often the supporters of socialism, as well as its enemies, identify socialism with state ownership. But as we’ve just seen in the US, even George Bush can resort to a form of nationalisation, taking over two giant mortgage corporations – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The Daily Telegraph thinks this is “a socialist response to market failure”. Outside the bizarre thought-world of the Telegraph nobody imagines that Bush is a socialist.
Socialists support nationalisation if it’s used to protect jobs. We oppose privatisation of public services because it means less public accountability.
But nationalisation is no cure-all. In 1947 miners welcomed nationalisation of the pits. Within a year Yorkshire miners were striking in opposition to their new bosses – and their union officials.
That is why workers’ control has always been vital to the real socialist tradition. As the British socialist GDH Cole put it, “Socialism cannot be soundly built except on a foundation of trust in the capacity of ordinary people to manage their own affairs.”
Syndicalism

Before the First World War syndicalist ideas were widespread in the working class movement. The syndicalists were opposed to state ownership – they believed the trade unions, as workers’ organisations, should take over and manage industry.
The French unions had the slogan, “The workshop will replace the government.”
In Britain syndicalism had great influence among engineers, miners and railway workers.
That is why, when the Labour Party adopted Clause Four of its constitution in 1918 it called not only for “the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange” but “the best obtainable system of popular administration and control of each industry or service”.
Labour never took any notice of this. The 1945 Labour government carried out several nationalisations, but Labour minister Stafford Cripps contemptuously declared, “I think it would be almost impossible to have worker-controlled industry in Britain, even if it were on the whole desirable.”
Just to make sure, Tony Blair abolished Clause Four in favour of some meaningless verbiage about a “spirit of solidarity, tolerance and respect”.
In Russia after the 1917 revolution people responded at a higher level.
One of the first decrees issued by the Bolsheviks on taking power stated that “workers’ control over the manufacture, purchase, sale and storage of produce and raw materials and over the financial activity of enterprises is introduced in all industrial, commercial, banking, agricultural, cooperative and other enterprises”.
The real movement came from below. In many cases factory owners were driven out or fled. Workers had no option but to take over the workplaces and run them for themselves. John Reed, a US socialist in Russia in the early days of the revolution, describes this process:
“There was a committee meeting at one of the factories, where a workman arose and said, ‘Comrades, why do we worry? The question of technical experts is not a difficult one. Remember, the boss wasn’t a technical expert, the boss didn’t know engineering or chemistry or bookkeeping. All he did was to own. When he wanted technical help, he hired men to do it for him. Well, now we are the boss. Let’s hire engineers, bookkeepers and so forth – to work for us’.”
Survive

In the difficult circumstances of economic collapse and the invasion of foreign armies, these embryos of workers’ control did not survive long.
Sometimes workers’ control meant particular groups of workers putting their own interests before those of the class as a whole. To counter this the Bolsheviks had to take tough decisions. But those early attempts at workers’ control remain an inspiration to us today.
Over the last 90 years workers’ control has reappeared again and again. In Spain 1936, in France 1968, in Chile 1973, in Poland 1980 and most recently in Argentina, workers have taken control of their own workplaces and shown that the old owners and managers were quite unnecessary.
During the Hungarian rising in 1956 workers set up councils to manage production. These controlled basic wage levels, hiring and firing, and appointed the director.
Some former managers went back to work on the factory floor. At the radio station the workers’ council brought together actors, producers, reporters, technicians, garage hands and cleaners, all with equal rights.
In Portugal in 1974 the overthrow of the dictatorship led to workers taking over their workplaces. Tony Cliff, the founder of the Socialist Workers Party, gave examples of some of the struggles that took place there:
“In Charminha, a small garment factory outside Lisbon, [bosses] tried to pay salaries with bounced cheques. The Austrian manager fled the country, and the workers, mainly women, set up a cooperative to sell their work to the people.
“In Eurofil, which makes plastics, fibres, rope and sacking, etc, and was run on 40 percent casual labour, the management tried to make the company go bankrupt. The workers occupied the factory and continued production. They have kept out the bosses and are demanding nationalisation without compensation under workers’ control.”
In Iran in 1979, when the Shah’s dictatorship was overthrown, workers established “shoras” – councils – to run the factories. The writer Maryam Poya described how they functioned:
“The shoras began to exercise their power at every level of factory life, in purchasing, sales, pricing and orders for raw materials. Different committees were organised to carry out various tasks. Guild committees to secure trade union demands with respect to wages, conditions, insurance, health and safety.
“Financial committees to control the incomes and expenditures of the individual factories and to watch over managerial financial affairs. Communications committees to maintain contact with shoras in other factories.
“Women’s committees, made up solely of women, to press women workers’ specific demands, especially in the chemicals and textiles industries where women constituted the majority of the labour force.”
Recently there have been warnings of another “Winter of Discontent” in Britain like that in the early months of 1979. What really frightens our rulers and their hangers-on about that period is the way that workers began to grasp control of industry.
A strike by lorry drivers in January 1979 led to the closure of petrol stations and threatened essential supplies.
The T&G union agreed to permit “emergency” supplies to be exempted. But the definition of an emergency was left up to local union officials, and shop stewards in different areas set up “dispensation committees” to make decisions.
In the same month there were strikes across the NHS. Again the definition of emergency became a vital question.
At the end of January a government minister announced that nearly half of NHS hospitals were only treating emergencies, that virtually no ambulance service was operating normally, and, worst of all, that ancillary health service workers were deciding which cases merited treatment.
Hierarchy

This was far worse for the government than just a strike for higher pay. It was a challenge to the whole hierarchy of the medical profession. Health service workers, who routinely saved human lives, had the impudence to claim that they were better qualified to define emergencies than politicians.
But under capitalism workers’ control can only go so far. There cannot be socialism in a single country and certainly no socialism in a single workplace. Even if workers take over their factory, they will eventually end up competing on the market and thus organising their own exploitation.
True workers’ control can only exist in the framework of a democratically decided general plan which sets overall targets and priorities.
Print workers alone can’t decide what we should read, or bus workers alone at what hours the buses will run. Sectional interests have to be balanced against the needs of society as a whole.
But workers’ control remains the key issue distinguishing what US socialist Hal Draper called “socialism from below” from “socialism from above”.
In some circumstances a reforming parliament can carry out nationalisations, or bring in real reforms that benefit workers, such as the NHS. But workers’ control can never be given – it must be taken by workers acting on their own behalf.
Till then every small victory in the workplace can represent what Tony Cliff called “creeping workers’ control”.
Every time we challenge management’s right to hire and fire by defending a victimised workmate, every time we prevent a deterioration of our working conditions in the name of “flexibility”, we strike a blow for workers’ control.
In doing so we increase our own self-confidence to challenge our rulers. As the world slides into recession, war and looming environmental disaster, we have to say to them – you can’t run the world, but we can.s’ control?

Forex Trading Systems

2009-05-04T04:21:00.000-07:00

You should build your own trading system
A trading system on the Forex market is a type of strategy that allows traders to trade with a set of rules. There are many free trading systems and strategies printed in trading articles, journals, books and on trading-related websites. I would have to say that if you are not inclined to learn how to develop your own trading methodology, then perhaps you should consider giving your money for someone else to invest. Give it to someone who is trading a system that he developed and tested himself because he is more likely to have the confidence and courage to follow his own trading system.
Why you need a forex trading system?
It’s easy to trade with a system.

A good system provides consistent result. What makes a good trading system?
It’s simple. Forget complicated systems with lots of rules - it’s a proven fact that simple systems work better - and are less likely to fail, in the brutal world of trading.
A trading system with profitable expectation.
It provides good ratio of reward/risk.

A system of comprehensive risk management including market exposure weightings, stop-loss provisions and capital commitment guidelines that preserve capital during trend-less or volatile periods. Once you learn how to develop trading systems and strategies, you can then be better equipped to test them as well. By this point you might even find that the system created by yourself is the best one for you, because it becomes the system more suited to your profit objectives while operating within your risk tolerance levels. It is likely that once you develops this level of competence, you will simply acquire other trading systems only to dissect them, grab the parts you likes and add them to your own system. To me, the irony is that for a trader to know which system to purchase, you must first learn how to create a system. And after knowing how to create a system, he will no longer have the need to buy one.

Forex Ace Secrets Exposed

2009-04-27T01:25:00.000-07:00

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Exercise extreme caution...

It's a well known fact that you must be extremely cautious before trading Forex and there are hundreds of software products on the market that claim to increase the probability of a successful trade. However, using automated software, you canlearn to trade Forex quickly.
Learning to trade Forex...

Capitalize on the opportunity to learn forex trading so you can begin the process of branching your portfolio out of domestic stocks and into the global market. Any financial advisor worth his weight will tell you that it is important to diversify your investment portfolio and this is by far the largest volume market in the world. Daily, it does nearly four times the volume of trading than the New York Stock Exchange does.
Anyone who holds a basic understanding of how money is converted and exchange rates work can learn forex trading. The sale or trading of currency is at the heart of what forex is. Using one currency to buy another means that your counterpart is using their currency to buy yours. As exchange rates fluctuate and the economies of nations surge and recede, these investments in cash behave in value very much like a traditional stock.

Don't be intimidated by the language...

As you delve into the details and begin your adventure to learn forex trading, you will become familiar with terms like spread, pip, cross, ask, appreciation and liquidity. You will begin to see the importance of the health of the global economy, as opposed to a singular focus on the domestic economy. Mastering the details of foreign exchange trading can be a challenge, but the financial rewards can be enormous..

There are quite a few resources available to those who wish to learn forex trading. The reliability of internet access has opened the door to online forex trading, which means that more investors have the ability to participate in trading activity. Since the foreign exchange trade is considered a spot market, the ready availability of internet access is crucial. Business is done on the "spot," thus the name.

You can capitalize on many benefits when you learn forex trading. The availability of a 24-hour a day market is one. Since forex involves the trade of currency at banks across the globe, the market never closes. The market is also remarkably liquid, meaning that you will never have trouble finding trading partners. Since most of your trading partners are banks and the medium is cash, you will never be at a loss for customers. Another benefit is the lack of commissions. Since you make the trades on your own, you don't have to spend part of your profit on brokerage commission fees.

you really increase your profitability by taking the time to learn forex trading. The availability of investment simulators and 24-hour customer support enables new investors to learn quickly. Not only can you be trading in no time, you can be showing a profit in no time. Do some research on foreign exchange trading. You might be startled to see how many large companies are involved..

Forex Trading Articles Directory

2009-04-22T01:18:00.000-07:00

Forex Trading Articles Directory
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Perimeter Security Systems - Airports
by Johnny Mayer

Perimeter Security Systems - Airports article discusses recent developments in uprgrading airport perimeter security. These include preventing accidental entry, use of armed guards, airport concourse security, technology and CCTV systems.

Perimeter Security systems are of utmost importance to "airport security". With passenger lines stretching from here until tomorrow, airports could not function without proven perimeter security systems. The pictures of passengers patiently lined up before metal detectors shows acceptance for Airport security systems. The other, unacceptable option is failed perimeter security systems leading to unthinkable 9-11 tragedies and empty planes in the skies.

Accidental Entry - Airport SecurityPeople sometimes penetrate airport security by accident. For example, three boys on a sail boat wound up a runway at JFK airport. The intrusion led to upgraded airport Security regulations and enhanced perimeter security equipment. Yet,intrusion by innocent people is an every day occurrence for airports despite advanced perimeter security measures.

Airport Concourse - Security SystemsConcourse security focuses most of its attention on screening processes while perimeter security deal with threats beyond the airport terminal. Perimeter Security is vital as some airports may be protected by tall fences designed to keep out intruders. Security Systems for airports on the East and West Coasts have marine borders with large open areas. The airport's perimeter security relies on a combination of patrols by the coast guard, dogs and high tech Perimeter Security systems.

Armed Guards - Perimeter Security Do armed guarded enhance airport Perimeter Security? The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) adopted an on-line baggage screening to speed up boarding time. They also created a elite police force armed with machine guns as seen in European airports. Their role combines both perimeter security and airport Security roles in the event airport security is breached. While checking carry-on luggage, they also screen travelers for suspicious behavior.

Technology - Perimeter SecurityThe best hope for assuring airport security is the one least talked about - the companies and technology airports implement security-based technology for maintaining a safe and secure airport. These include iris recognition, facial recognition, ID validation, fingerprint biometrics and others. Just as important is technology that verifies suspicious activity that does not pose what is not a viable threat.

For example, thermal-imaging surveillance that provides real-time security perimeter data to airport personnel. CCTV systems - Security Systems LINKhttp://www.magal-ssl.com For years, airports have used CCTV systems manned by people watching large banks of monitors. While still a component of airport security system, the CCGTV systems have been upgraded b y new components and new analysis techniques.

The "alarm" triggered may be audible or configured to speak the warning. Experts know "Cameras data don't stop intruders. People stop intruders". CCTV systems offer enhanced perimeter security to protect airports from Accidental Entry.For information on Perimeter Security Systems - Airports, please visit Magal Security Systems. Johnny Mayer is a content writer for Compucall Web Marketing, LTD.

The Kiss of Peace

2009-04-22T00:29:00.000-07:00

The Kiss of Peace
by Fr. Edward McNamara
This question and answer first appeared on ZENIT (November 12, 2003). It is reprinted here with the kind permission of Cecile Borgeua.The author, Father Edward McNamara, is professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum Pontifical Athenæum in Rome.
Question What is the history of the Kiss of Peace and when was it introduced? A Reader from Toronto

Answer The kiss, or sign, of peace was known from the earliest times, often inspired by Saint Paul's invitation to the Corinthians: "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (1 Corinthians 16:20). Jesus urged that one should be reconciled with a brother before taking one's sacrifice to the altar. The kiss of peace is also an explicit answer to Christ's admonition to fraternal reconciliation and peace, to purify one's sacrifice.
The rite is mentioned in ancient sources such as the Apostolic Constitutions and the sermons of Saint Augustine.

At first the kiss of peace was considered as an important, and even obligatory, preparation for those about to receive Communion but was later extended to all. After the year 1000 the kiss of peace gradually became a far more formalized rite and later the exclusive preserve of the clergy, except for some special occasions.

Thus the sign of peace, as described in the present missal, roughly restores the rite to the form it had in medieval times in which everyone briefly gave the kiss of peace to the person beside him. At that time the gesture of the kiss was more a mark of respect than of affection. Hence, the gesture adopted today should be what local custom considers as a gesture of respect.

A correspondent from Kentucky asks if the priest or deacon has the option to use other formulas for the invitation to make the sign of peace, besides the one printed in the missal and even if "the priest is allowed to change the words of the invitation to say, 'If you so wish, you may offer one another a sign of peace,' thereby transferring the 'option' to the people?"

Although the missal in English is fairly limited in this regard, other languages such as Italian and Spanish provide several formulas for the sign of peace, some of which reflect the liturgical seasons. Thus it is possible to have slight variations in the invitation.
Although I doubt that the priest or deacon using the particular example cited by our reader is consciously trying to shift the option of making the sign of peace from celebrant to people, it is rather clumsy and would be better left out, since some people may refrain from giving the sign of peace for a good reason (other than not wishing to).

This is not to let the grumpy members of the congregation off the hook, for while some people are naturally disinclined to shake hands with total strangers, a kind smile and gentle countenance costs nothing and is worth a lot.

Another priest from a multicultural situation in which parishioners have developed an "extended sign of peace" over the years, and who is experiencing difficulties in making them understand the true nature of this rite, asks: "Would it be acceptable and in keeping with the spirit of the GIRM if the fractioning rite (with the 'Lamb of God') is festive and more prominent than the 'extended' exchange of peace that has been the custom of these communities?"

I would suggest that the priest adopt a patient approach explaining the rite and the universal norms guiding its use.

Above all, he should motivate and inculcate his parishioners' spiritual understanding of the significance of the gesture as a preparation for Communion and unity in Christ's Mystical Body. This can never be reduced to being no more than a sign of our mutual affection, ethnic solidarity, or any other merely human value.

Once this explanation has been carried out, it is a good idea to strengthen the prominence of the "Lamb of God" with respect to the sign of peace. Thus the choir or cantor should be instructed as to when to intone the "Lamb of God," leaving a brief but congruous space of time for the sign of peace.

During the transition period from the "extended sign of peace" to a more solemn "Lamb of God" it would probably be better to use simpler melodies that facilitate the singing of the entire congregation. Once the habit of a briefer sign of peace has been formed, the choir may occasionally move on to more complex melodies and even dare sing it in Gregorian chant.

Singing the "Lamb of God" in a more festive, albeit measured, manner is in conformity with the letter and spirit of GIRM No. 83:

Christ's gesture of breaking bread at the Last Supper, which gave the entire Eucharistic Action its name in apostolic times, signifies that the many faithful are made one body (1 Cor 10:17) by receiving Communion from the one Bread of Life which is Christ, who died and rose for the salvation of the world. The fraction or breaking of bread is begun after the sign of peace and is carried out with proper reverence, though it should not be unnecessarily prolonged, nor should it be accorded undue importance. ... The supplication Agnus Dei, is, as a rule, sung by the choir or cantor with the congregation responding; or it is, at least, recited aloud. This invocation accompanies the fraction and, for this reason, may be repeated as many times as necessary until the rite has reached its conclusion, the last time ending with the words dona nobis pacem ("grant us peace").