IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausecr/v23y1990i3p5-16.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Whither the Balance of Payments?

Author

Listed:
  • M. K. Lewis
  • M. Polasek

Abstract

This article sets out the analytical framework of the ‘new’ approach to the balance of payments under the conditions of ‘international financial laissez faire’ characterised by financial deregulation, floating exchange rates, and high international capital mobility. It is argued that much of the reasoning underlying the new approach derives from the modus operandi of regional payments systems. The fundamental differences between the benchmark model of regional financing and the current international financial laissez faire are explored, and the extent to which the presence of exchange risk may interfere with the ‘optimal’ debt/borrowing processes posited by the new approach is discussed. The possibility of a transfer problem arising from Australia's rapid accumulation of short‐term foreign debt is considered. While developments in international banking, together with the liberalisation and globalisation of world securities markets, have considerably narrowed the differences between the new global financial environment and regional payments systems, the conclusion of the article is that there are substantial externalities in the international case which are intrinsic to the debt/borrowing process and which are likely to remain a source of continued policy concern.

Suggested Citation

  • M. K. Lewis & M. Polasek, 1990. "Whither the Balance of Payments?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 23(3), pages 5-16, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:23:y:1990:i:3:p:5-16
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8462.1990.tb00356.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8462.1990.tb00356.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8462.1990.tb00356.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. D. Pitchford, 1989. "A Sceptical View of Australia's Current Account and Debt Problem," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 22(2), pages 5-14, June.
    2. Jeremy Smith & David W.R. Gruen, 1989. "A Random Walk Around the $A: Expectations, Risk, Interest Rates and Consequences for External Imbalance," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp8906, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    3. Kevin Davis, 1987. "External Debt And Monetary Policy," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 6(2), pages 7-17, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Tony Makin, 1992. "Interventionism, Microeconomic Reform and the External Deficit," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 25(1), pages 15-21, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wright, Robert S. & Gilmour, Karen & Matthews, Lynette & O'Mara, L. Paul, 1991. "Some Implications of Microeconomic Reform for the Macroeconomy and the Commodities Sector," 1991 Conference (35th), February 11-14, 1991, Armidale, Australia 145716, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    2. PAUL CASHIN & C. JOHN McDERMOTT, 1998. "Are Australia's Current Account Deficits Excessive?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 74(227), pages 346-361, December.
    3. Federico Maria Ferrara & Jörg S Haas & Andrew Peterson & Thomas Sattler, 2022. "Exports vs. Investment: How Public Discourse Shapes Support for External Imbalances," Post-Print hal-02569351, HAL.
    4. Summers, Peter M., 2001. "Forecasting Australia's economic performance during the Asian crisis," International Journal of Forecasting, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 499-515.
    5. Asraul Hoque, 1995. "Co-integrating relationship between terms of trade and current account deficit: the Australian evidence," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(4), pages 130-133.
    6. David W. R. Gruen & Jeremy Smith, 1994. "Excess Returns in a Small Open Economy," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 70(211), pages 381-396, December.
    7. C. W. Murphy, 1989. "The Budget Strategy and Foreign Debt," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 22(4), pages 32-51, December.
    8. Douglas, Justin J. & Bartley, Scott W., 1997. "Risk premia in Australian interest rates," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 41(2), pages 1-35.
    9. Alberto Alesina & David W. R. Gruen & Matthew T. Jones, 1991. "Fiscal Adjustment, The Real Exchange Rate and Australia's External Imbalance," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 24(3), pages 38-51, July.
    10. Creina Day & Garth Day, 2010. "Taxes, Growth And The Current Account Tick‐Curve Effect," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 13-27, March.
    11. David Gruen & Amanda Sayegh, 2005. "The Evolution of Fiscal Policy in Australia," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(4), pages 618-635, Winter.
    12. Gangemi, Michael A. M. & Brooks, Robert D. & Faff, Robert W., 2000. "Modeling Australia's country risk: a country beta approach," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 259-276.
    13. Akhand Akhtar Hossain, 2015. "The Evolution of Central Banking and Monetary Policy in the Asia-Pacific," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14611.
    14. Rochelle Belkar & Lynne Cockerell & Christopher Kent, 2008. "Current Account Deficits: Tha Australian Debate," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Kevin Cowan & Sebastián Edwards & Rodrigo O. Valdés & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt- (ed.),Current Account and External Financing, edition 1, volume 12, chapter 13, pages 491-535, Central Bank of Chile.
    15. David W.R. Gruen & Gordon D. Menzies, 1991. "The Failure of Uncovered Interest Parity: Is it Near-rationality in the Foreign Exchange Market?," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp9103, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    16. David W.R. Gruen, 1991. "The Effect of Steady Inflation on Interest Rates and the Real Exchange Rate in a World with Free Capital Flows," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp9101, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    17. Joanne Copp & Robert Brooks, 1999. "Variance ratio testing of the Australian forward foreign exchange market," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(7), pages 417-419.
    18. Gruen, D.W.R. & Gizycki, M.C., 1993. "Explaining Forward Discount Bias: Is It Anchoring?," Papers 164, Princeton, Woodrow Wilson School - Public and International Affairs.
    19. Cumberworth, Matthew & Milbourne, Ross, 1996. "External Debt and Liabilities: Evidence from a Cross Section of Countries," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 72(218), pages 201-213, September.
    20. Jun Ikeda, 2007. "How Should One Evaluate Fiscal Conditions? A Study Based on the Comparison Between Japan and Australia," Asia Pacific Economic Papers 364, Australia-Japan Research Centre, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:23:y:1990:i:3:p:5-16. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mimelau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.