A Requiem for “Blame It on Beijing” interpreting rotating global current account surpluses

Menzie Chinn and Hiro Ito

Journal of International Money and Finance, 2022, vol. 121, issue C

Abstract: Global current account imbalances have reappeared, although the extent and distribution of these imbalances are noticeably different from those experienced in the middle of the last decade. What does that recurrence mean for our understanding of the origin and nature of such imbalances? Will imbalances persist over time? Informed by empirical estimates of the determinants of current account imbalances encompassing the period after the global recession, we find that – as before – the observable manifestations of the factors driving the global saving glut have limited explanatory power for the time series variation in imbalances. Fiscal factors determine imbalances, and have accounted for a noticeable share of the recent variation in imbalances, including in the U.S. and Germany. For advanced economies, the financial component of the current account has been playing an increasing role in determining the movements of the account. Examining observable policy actions, it is clear that net official flows have been associated with some share of imbalances, although tracing out the motivations for intervention is difficult. Looking forward, it is clear that policy can influence global imbalances, although some component of the U.S. deficit will likely remain given the U.S. role in generating safe assets.

Keywords: Current account balance; Net foreign assets; Saving glut; Mercantilism; Self-protection; Safe assets; Official flows (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F32 F41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Working Paper: A Requiem for “Blame It on Beijing”: Interpreting Rotating Global Current Account Surpluses (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:121:y:2022:i:c:s0261560621001613

DOI: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2021.102510

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