Reporting in the form of exchange rates and trade balances, along with other political reasons—high debt, for example—sometimes push states toward devaluation and revaluation. One day they simply tell you: your money is now worth this much in other currencies. Or they say nothing, but gradually manipulate rates through the central bank, artificially “cheapening” the currency. Although exchange rates are both the goal and the indicator of these moves, their consequences are similar to those of inflation. Sudden devaluations are especially catastrophic.