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Global Imbalances and Structural Change in the United States

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  • Timothy J. Kehoe
  • Kim J. Ruhl
  • Joseph B. Steinberg

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, as the United States borrowed heavily from the rest of the world, employment in the U.S. goods-producing sector has fallen. We construct a dynamic general equilibrium model with several mechanisms that could generate declining goods-sector employment: foreign borrowing, nonhomothetic preferences, and differential productivity growth across sectors. We find that only 15.1 percent of the decline in goods-sector employment from 1992 to 2012 stems from U.S. trade deficits; most of the decline is due to differential productivity growth. As the United States repays its debt, its trade balance will reverse, but goods-sector employment will continue to fall.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy J. Kehoe & Kim J. Ruhl & Joseph B. Steinberg, 2013. "Global Imbalances and Structural Change in the United States," NBER Working Papers 19339, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:19339
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E13 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Neoclassical
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

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