when a country s currency appreciates economists note a reverse j curve may occur the country s exports abruptly become more expensive for importing countries if exports from other countries can fill the demand for a lower price the stronger currency will reduce its export competitiveness local consumers may switch to imports too because they have become more competitive with locally produced goods 
the term j curve is used to describe the typical trajectory of investments made by a private equity firm the j curve is a visual representation of the plain fact that sometimes things get worse before they get better private equity firms have a different path to profitability than public companies or the funds that invest in them their portfolios by design are made up of companies that were performing poorly when they were purchased the firm then spends substantial amounts of money retooling the company s operations before spinning it off as a renewed company that means an initial decline in performance followed at least theoretically by a steep improvement in performance 