The Evidence and Impact of Financial Globalization

Chapter 5

Global Imbalances

M.D. Chinn

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA

NBER, Cambridge, MA, USA

Outline

The Contested Landscape of Global Imbalances

Global Imbalances Defined

Spendthrift America and the Saving–Investment Approach

A US Productivity Surge and the Intertemporal Approach

East Asian Mercantilism and Bretton Woods II Versus Self-Protection

A Global Saving Glut?

Imbalances and the Financial Crisis

Acknowledgments

Glossary

References

The Contested Landscape of Global Imbalances

In the years from 1998 to 2008, economists focused their attention on the causes and consequences of the expanding current account deficits and surpluses. The pattern of current account balances was interesting from an economic standpoint, in that it did ...