Global Imbalances: Origins and Prospects

Global Imbalances and Financial Fragility

The U.S. is currently engulfed in the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. A key structural factor behind this crisis is the large demand for riskless assets from the rest of the world. In this paper we present a model to show how such demand not only triggered a sharp rise in U.S. asset prices, but also exposed the U.S. financial sector to a downturn by concentrating risk o...

Global Imbalances: a Saving and Investment Perspective

fallen and current account imbalances have widened to unprecedented levels, yet real long-term interest rates remain low in most countries. How did the global economy arrive at this position? Some have argued that the catalyst is the substantial changes that have taken place in Asia, where saving has risen but investment has collapsed since the late 1990s. According to this view, the swing in t...

Global Imbalances: Time for Action

Bruegel, the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, and the Peterson Institute for International Economics held a joint workshop in Washington on February 8 and 9, 2007, on how to achieve an orderly reduction in global imbalances. Thirty of the world’s leading experts presented analyses and evaluations of the requirements for such an adjustment. The discussions centered on two sets ...

Modern human origins: progress and prospects.

The question of the mode of origin of modern humans (Homo sapiens) has dominated palaeoanthropological debate over the last decade. This review discusses the main models proposed to explain modern human origins, and examines relevant fossil evidence from Eurasia, Africa and Australasia. Archaeological and genetic data are also discussed, as well as problems with the concept of 'modernity' itsel...

Global Prospects