Financial Liberalization and Global Imbalances

Should we still be concerned with current account imbalances, known as global imbalances, in the context of international financial liberalization? Because financial liberalization transforms the external constraints that weigh on policy makers, and this is the purpose of this article. In section 1, we examine the theoretical and empirical characterization of good and bad current imbalances. In section 2, some stylized facts allow us to assess the magnitude of global imbalances and external financial positions. Section 3 analyzes the impact of financial liberalization on the financial component of global imbalances and the dynamics of external financial positions. Finally, in section 4, we examine the thesis of the decoupling between current imbalances and international transfers of savings and liquidity.