Today, we present a guest post written by Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and formerly a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Category Archives: international
Defining Crowding Out in an Open Economy
Gavin Ekins argues that it’s Time to Shoulder Aside “Crowding Out” As an Excuse Not to Do Tax Reform. From the introduction:
“West Coast Workshop in International Finance 2017”
Taking place today, this is the fifth in the series, with topics this year on exchange rates and monetary policy, macroprudential policy, credit and business cycles (sponsored by UC Santa Cruz Economics, Santa Clara Economics, and Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, organization chaired by Helen Popper at SCU and Grace Weishi Gu at UCSC).
The website is here with links to papers, conference agenda here.
Day 279: China Still Not Yet Declared a Currency Manipulator
Not that I’m complaining. But seriously, it’s far past the “day one” of the new Administration when Donald Trump promised China would be declared a currency manipulator.
EconoFact: “Are Global Imbalances a Source of Concern?”
That’s the title of a new EconoFact piece. Here is the key depiction of some key current account balances, past and (possibly) future.
Guest Contribution: “EQCHANGE: A Worldwide Database on Actual and Equilibrium Effective Exchange Rates”
Today we are pleased to present a guest contribution written by Cécile Couharde (EconomiX-CNRS, University of Paris Nanterre), Carl Grekou (CEPII), Anne-Laure Delatte (CEPII, EconomiX-CNRS and CEPR), Valérie Mignon (EconomiX-CNRS, University of Paris Nanterre and CEPII) and Florian Morvillier (EconomiX-CNRS, University of Paris Nanterre).
The widening and persistence of current account disequilibria at the international level have refocused real exchange rate distortions at the core of international debates. What are the exchange rate adjustments needed to correct excessive imbalances? How to assess whether a currency is fundamentally misaligned, i.e. under- or over-valued? We introduce a new database, EQCHANGE, which includes nominal and real effective exchange rates, as well as equilibrium real effective exchange rates for more than 180 countries from 1973 onwards. It represents the longest and largest publicly available database on equilibrium exchange rates and corresponding misalignments.
US Withdrawal from KORUS Free Trade Agreement?
From Reuters:
President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would discuss the fate of a five-year-old U.S.-South Korean free trade deal with his advisers next week, in a move that could see him pull out of the accord with a key American ally at a time of heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula.
Thoughts on Trade, Growth and Inequality from “Fostering a Dynamic Global Economy”
The Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium this year focused on the causes, implications and remedies for the slowdown in economic growth. Major themes revolved around productivity, fiscal policy, and international trade. Here I discuss some of the major points relating to international trade and inequality, encompassing a paper by Nina Pavcnik (Dartmouth), comments by David Dorn (Zurich), and panel remarks by Ann Harrison (UPenn), Catherine Mann (OECD), Peter Schott (Yale), and John Van Reenen (MIT).
How Will the Wall Be Funded?
Donald Trump has reaffirmed: “One way or the other Mexico will pay for the wall.” At the same time, as recently as today, Trump threatened a government shutdown if Congress did not provide funding for the wall. Time to consider how these points are — or are not — internally consistent, even allowing for the possibility that Mexico might “ultimately” pay.
Guest Contribution: “The Signal/Noise Ratio in US North Korea Policy”
Today, we present part two of a guest post written by Jeffrey Frankel, Harpel Professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and formerly a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers. An earlier version appeared as “Can Trump Deal with North Korea and China?” in Project Syndicate.