current account

In the last few days the USD/INR exchange rate exceeded the psychologically important level of 60 for the first time in history. Foreign investors are panicking, as capital leaves emerging markets.

Michael Pettis had a very good post out yesterday that focused on the sectoral balances within and across eurozone countries which I recommend. His point is that excess German savings driven by wage suppression was behind macro imbalances…

One of the reasons that it is been so hard for a lot of analysts, even trained economists, to understand the imbalances that were at the root of the current crisis is that we too easily confuse national savings with household savings. By…

In the U.S. and in euro countries, policies aimed at stimulating exports are considered an effective response to lagging growth and recession. Viewing a net export balance as an economic virtue and a growth engine is a relic of Mercantilism…

The rise and rise of Japanese debt is far from benign, and the dynamic, we are convinced, will at some point become unsustainable. Unfortunately by the time we reach that point it will be too late. Indeed, given that we agree with Krugman…

Brazilian central bank's highly accommodative policy in the past year and the recent weakness in the Brazilian real has helped boost growth.

“Who is afraid of currency wars?” asks Gavyn Davies in the FT. I have known Gavyn for 25 years and have to confess that he is way out of my league intellectually. He is one of the smartest people I have ever met and, thankfully, also one of…

By Daniel Gros, Director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels Switzerland has pegged its currency to the euro at a level that helps it sustain a 12% current-account surplus and one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe.…

By Marc Chandler The Swiss National Bank does not miss an opportunity to remind market participants that it is determined to cap the Swiss franc's appreciation. The cost of imposing its will appears to be rising. The Financial Times today…

By Paul De Grauwe, Professor of international economics, London School of Economics, and former member of the Belgian parliament and Yuemei Ji, Economist, LICOS, University of Leuven This post was first published at VoxEU Germany’s large…