Global imbalances and monetary policy

Abstract

In the article I discuss some possible explanations for two features of financial globalization over recent years; first, the fact that expected returns have fallen significantly in advanced countries, even though economic growth has accelerated; and second, the fact that capital is flowing from poor to rich countries rather than the other way round, a phenomenon known in the literature as the “Lucas Paradox”. The “incomplete” nature of globalization, notably the persistent differences in institutional quality between North and South, might explain both puzzles as well as the emergence of global imbalances. Alternative explanations based on a fall in risk premia and accommodative monetary policy conditions fit the facts less well. I then discuss the implications for monetary policy.