Introduction. The world economy is currently fragile due to its imbalances, which include excessive share prices and, for several key countries, including France, Japan, the UK and the US, an unsustainable level of fiscal deficits. These are likely to be resolved by a financial crisis, whose trigger depends on two things: A large decline in […]
Published in: American Affairs, Fall 2025 / Volume IX, Number 3 John Maynard Keynes recognized that countries with persistent current account surpluses posed a threat to the world economy, but no agreement was reached at Bretton Woods, nor in any subsequent discussions, on how countries might be dissuaded from running them. The burden of accommodating […]
Published in: World Economics • Vol. 26 • No. 2 • April-June 2025 [original pdf] Key Points Major changes in national accounting were introduced between 1999 and Read the full article here: pdf
Published in: World Economics • Vol. 25 • No. 4 • October–December 2024 [original pdf] Key Points Read the full article here: pdf
By Andrew Smithers Published by the NIESR in their Autumn 2024 UK Economic Outlook on 6th November 2024. Introduction This box picks up on two sessions of discussion involving an invited group of those working in financial services, organised by the NIESR, and a paper I wrote setting out the key issues and explaining their […]