The Global Economic Crisis

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In the late 2000s, the World suffered from a big global economic crisis which caused “the largest and sharpest drop in global economic activity of the modern era”, in which “most major developed economies find themselves in a deep recession”, according to McKibbin and Stoeckel (1). Because its consequences have a very big impact to the whole world, many economists and scientist have tried to find the causes of the crisis; and some major causes have been emphasized are greed, the defection of the free market system, and the lack of prudent regulation and supervision. This essay will focus on the global imbalances, one of the most important causes of the current economic crisis. Many researchers have pointed out that the global imbalances are the root of the recent financial crisis. Portes claims that “the underlying problem in international finance over the past decade has been global imbalances, not greed, poor incentive structures, or weak financial regulation, however egregious and important these may be.” (2). According to him, the global imbalances lead to “the increasing in dispersion of current account”, which “puts a burden on financial systems to intermediate.” In 1996, the US current account and emerging market plus developing country current account were each about zero. In 2008, US current account was in deficit by $ 600 bn, the emerging market/developing country current account in surplus by $ 900 bn. (sect. 1.1) Moreover, the global imbalances also make capital flowing incorrectly, from developing countries to advanced countries, from advanced countries to other advanced countries. This makes developing countries with fast productivity growth show capital outflows and vice versa, leads to the surplus of developing... ... middle of paper ... ...nces discussed above. Right now, the global economic is recovering, but the study of reasons of the crisis still teaches many countries a lesson on how to build a solid financial system and how to deal with other macroeconomic problems. Works Cited Ferguson et al. International financial stability. Geneva: International Center for Monetary and Banking Studies, 2007. Print. Warwick J. McKibbin, and Andrew Stoeckel. “The Global Financial Crisis: Causes and Consequences.” Lowy Institute for International Policy 2.09 (2009): 1. PDF file. Richard Portes. “Global imbalances.” London Business School and CEPR (2009): 2. PDF file. Warwick J. McKibbin, Andrew Stoeckel, The Potential Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on World Trade http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/2009/11/18/000158349_20091118083139/Rendered/INDEX/WPS5134.txt

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