Explaining Global Financial Imbalances: A Critique of the Saving Glut and Reserve Currency Hypotheses

This paper examines three different explanations of the global financial imbalances. It begins with the neoliberal globalization hypothesis that explains the imbalances as the product of the model of globalization implemented over the past thirty years. It then examines the saving glut and reserve currency hypotheses. The paper concludes by arguing that both the saving glut and reserve currency hypotheses are inconsistent with the empirical record and both provide a misleading guide for policy.