Conference Paper

Understanding global imbalances

Abstract: Two contemporary issues provide reason to focus on national saving and investment: the debate over public pensions, and pensions more generally, in all rich countries; and the large global current account imbalances, conceptually the difference between national savings and domestic investment. Are we all saving enough to provide adequate retirement income for rapidly ageing populations ? especially Americans, whose household savings seems to have disappeared altogether in 2005? And are the countries with large external deficits ? notably the United States ? mortgaging the income of future generations inappropriately, not to mention courting financial calamity in the meantime?

Keywords: Saving and investment; Pensions; Retirement income; International trade; Balance of trade;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Part of Series: Conference Series ; [Proceedings]

Publication Date: 2006

Volume: 51