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A View on Global Imbalances and their Contribution to the Financial Crisis

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  • Georg Dettmann

    (Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics, Birkbeck
    Department of Economic Science, University of Verona)

Abstract

The Global Imbalances that contributed to the financial crisis (2007-2010) are still present, and the world still hasn’t fully recovered from recession. There is no consistent explanation of the Global Imbalances and their interaction with simultaneous events yet. The current state of the literature is that papers contradict each other and the main questions remain unsolved. This paper aims to provide a coherent story of the economic environment that laid the ground for the financial crisis, focusing on the evolution of Global Imbalances. It will reconcile the discrepancies of the different strands of existing literature and hypotheses. Hypotheses which can be rejected will be discarded. The paper will try to explain what mechanisms (inside and outside of the US) worked within these Imbalances, how they were motivated and if these mechanisms are sustainable. The single most important result will be that there is no obvious reason why China and the other emerging Asian economies finance the US. Further, the US finance themselves by means that are not fully understood yet and can only partially be explained. One important factor appears to be the use of the Exorbitant Privilege via Seigniorage. Other factors remain unknown.

Suggested Citation

  • Georg Dettmann, 2011. "A View on Global Imbalances and their Contribution to the Financial Crisis," Birkbeck Working Papers in Economics and Finance 1102, Birkbeck, Department of Economics, Mathematics & Statistics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bbk:bbkefp:1102
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    File URL: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/7509
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Georg Dettmann, 2014. "Determinants of Internal and External Imbalances within the Euro Area," Working Papers 01/2014, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    2. Georg Dettmann, 2015. "An asymmetric model on Seigniorage and the dynamics of net foreign assets," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 62(1), pages 41-55, March.
    3. Fiorentini, Riccardo, 2020. "The Persisting US Trade Deficit: Is Protectionistm the Right Answer?," Economia Internazionale / International Economics, Camera di Commercio Industria Artigianato Agricoltura di Genova, vol. 73(2), pages 155-186.
    4. Riccardo Fiorentini, 2011. "Global Imbalances, the International Crisis and the Role of the Dollar," Working Papers 18/2011, University of Verona, Department of Economics.
    5. Riccardo Fiorentini & Guido Montani, 2012. "The New Global Political Economy," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14443.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Global Imbalances; Financial Crisis; Bretton Woods II; Saving Glut; Seigniorage; Foreign Asset Positions; Exorbitant Privilege;
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