Global current account imbalances were a major subject of concern in the years before the recent financial crisis. It is shown that the expected (negative) equilibrium relationship between net foreign assets and the trade balance that had held in the previous twenty years appeared to break down...

Little attention has been devoted to the effects of price dispersion at local and seasonal levels on the measurement of living standards in LDCs. In particular, it is not known if a substantial share of welfare or poverty is the consequence of price differences rather than of differences in...