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The End of Privilege: A Reexamination of the Net Foreign Asset Position of the United States

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  • Andrew Atkeson
  • Jonathan Heathcote
  • Fabrizio Perri

Abstract

The US net foreign asset position declined sharply after 2007, reaching negative 60 percent of GDP by the third quarter of 2023. This deterioration primarily reflects a US-specific rise in corporate asset values that inflated the value of US equity liabilities to the rest of the world. To interpret these trends, we develop an international macro-finance model of flows, stocks, asset valuations, the current account,and the net foreign asset position. We find that the welfare impact of rising asset values for a representative US household has been quite negative given extensive foreign ownership of US corporate equity.

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  • Andrew Atkeson & Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri, 2025. "The End of Privilege: A Reexamination of the Net Foreign Asset Position of the United States," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 115(7), pages 2151-2206, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:115:y:2025:i:7:p:2151-2206
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20230732
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    1. The End of Privilege: A Reexamination of the Net Foreign Asset Position of the United States
      by Christian Zimmermann in NEP-DGE blog on 2022-09-23 03:10:41

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    Cited by:

    1. Carol C. Bertaut & Stephanie E. Curcuru & Ester Faia & Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, 2024. "New Evidence on the US Excess Return on Foreign Portfolios," IMF Working Papers 2024/241, International Monetary Fund.
    2. Zhengyang Jiang, 2024. "Exorbitant Privilege: A Safe-Asset View," CESifo Working Paper Series 11279, CESifo.
    3. Kleinman, Benny & Liu, Ernest & Redding, Stephen & Yogo, Motohiro, 2023. "Neoclassical Growth in an Interdependent World," CEPR Discussion Papers 18654, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Mariano Croce & Mohammad R. Jahan-Parvar & Samuel Rosen, 2022. "SONOMA: a Small Open ecoNOmy for MAcrofinance," International Finance Discussion Papers 1349, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    5. Lidia Smitkova, 2023. "Profits, ‘Superstar’ Firms and Capital Flows," Economics Series Working Papers 1030, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    6. Davis, J. Scott & van Wincoop, Eric, 2025. "A theory of net capital flows over the global financial cycle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    7. Michael B. Devereux & Charles Engel & Steve Pak Yeung Wu, 2023. "Collateral Advantage: Exchange Rates, Capital Flows and Global Cycles," NBER Working Papers 31164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Enrique G. Mendoza & Vincenzo Quadrini, "undated". "Unstable Prosperity:How Globalization Made the World Economy More Volatile," PIER Working Paper Archive 23-003, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    9. Joel M. David & Romain Rancière & David Zeke, 2023. "International Diversification, Reallocation, and the Labor Share," NBER Working Papers 31168, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Rishabh Aggarwal & Adrien Auclert & Matthew Rognlie & Ludwig Straub, 2023. "Excess Savings and Twin Deficits: The Transmission of Fiscal Stimulus in Open Economies," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 325-412.
    11. Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2024. "Many Creditors, One Large Debtor: Understanding the Buildup of Global Stock Imbalances After the Global Financial Crisis," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 72(2), pages 509-553, June.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F40 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - General
    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets

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