The period preceding the global financial crisis was characterized by a substantial widening of current account imbalances across the world. Since the onset of the crisis, these imbalances have contracted to a significant extent. In this paper, we analyze the ongoing process of external...

We document and assess the role of small financial centers in the international financial system using a newly-assembled dataset. We present estimates of the foreign asset and liability positions for a number of the most important small financial centers, and place these into context by...

This Paper develops an empirical model of bilateral exchange rate volatility. We conjecture that for developing economies, external financial liabilities have an important effect on desired bilateral exchange rate volatility, above and beyond the standard Optimal Currency Area (OCA) factors. By...

The paper highlights the increased dispersion in net external positions in recent years, particularly among industrial countries. It provides a simple accounting framework that disentangles the factors driving the accumulation of external assets and liabilities (such as trade imbalances,...

We examine the link between the net foreign asset position, the trade balance and the real exchange rate. In particular, we decompose the impact of a country’s net foreign asset position (‘external wealth’) on its long-run real exchange rate into two mechanisms: the relation between...

This Paper investigates the effects of exchange rate regimes and alternative monetary policy rules for an emerging market economy that is subject to a volatile external environment in the form of shocks to world interest rates and the terms of trade. In particular, we highlight the impact of...

This Paper discusses some key issues in the application of dynamic general equilibrium analysis to open economy modeling. In the context of the new open economy macroeconomics paradigm, we focus on: (i) the currency denomination of sticky prices; (ii) the role of the current account and net...

The relationship between international payments and the real exchange rate - the ‘transfer problem’ - is one of the classic questions in international economics. In this paper we use cross-country data on real exchange rates and a newly constructed data set on countries’ net external...

We explore some empirical properties of gross international investment positions. In order to provide income-smoothing, net investment income should negatively covary with GDP. Moreover, to maximize stabilization of GNP in the face of GDP fluctuations, the yield on foreign assets should move...

The deterioration in the U.S. net external position in recent years has been much smaller than the extensive net borrowing associated with large current account deficits would have suggested. This paper examines the sources of discrepancies between net borrowing and accumulation of net...