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The End of Privilege: A Reexamination of the Net Foreign Asset Position of the United States

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Atkeson
  • Jonathan Heathcote
  • Fabrizio Perri
Abstract
The US net foreign asset position has deteriorated sharply since 2007 and is currently negative 65 percent of US GDP. This deterioration primarily reflects changes in the relative values of large gross international equity positions, as opposed to net new borrowing. In particular, a sharp increase in equity prices that has been US-specific has inflated the value of US foreign liabilities. We develop an international macro finance model to interpret these trends, and we argue that the rise in equity prices in the United States likely reflects rising profitability of domestic firms rather than a substantial accumulation of unmeasured capital by those firms. Under that interpretation, the revaluation effects that have driven down the US net foreign asset position are associated with large, unanticipated transfers of US output to foreign investors.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Atkeson & Jonathan Heathcote & Fabrizio Perri, 2022. "The End of Privilege: A Reexamination of the Net Foreign Asset Position of the United States," Staff Report 639, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedmsr:94111
    DOI: 10.21034/sr.639
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    1. The End of Privilege: A Reexamination of the Net Foreign Asset Position of the United States
      by Christian Zimmermann in NEP-DGE blog on 2022-09-23 03:10:41

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Zhengyang Jiang, 2024. "Exorbitant Privilege: A Safe-Asset View," CESifo Working Paper Series 11279, CESifo.
    2. Joel M. David & Romain Ranciere & David Zeke, 2023. "International Diversification, Reallocation, and the Labor Share," Working Paper Series WP 2023-16, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    3. Kleinman, Benny & Liu, Ernest & Redding, Stephen & Yogo, Motohiro, 2023. "Neoclassical Growth in an Interdependent World," CEPR Discussion Papers 18654, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    4. Rishabh Aggarwal & Adrien Auclert & Matthew Rognlie & Ludwig Straub, 2023. "Excess Savings and Twin Deficits: The Transmission of Fiscal Stimulus in Open Economies," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(1), pages 325-412.
    5. Mariano Croce & Mohammad R. Jahan-Parvar & Samuel Rosen, 2022. "SONOMA: a Small Open ecoNOmy for MAcrofinance," International Finance Discussion Papers 1349, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    6. Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, 2024. "Many Creditors, One Large Debtor: Understanding the Buildup of Global Stock Imbalances After the Global Financial Crisis," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 72(2), pages 509-553, June.
    7. Lidia Smitkova, 2023. "Profits, ‘Superstar’ Firms and Capital Flows," Economics Series Working Papers 1030, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    8. Michael B. Devereux & Charles Engel & Steve Pak Yeung Wu, 2023. "Collateral Advantage: Exchange Rates, Capital Flows and Global Cycles," NBER Working Papers 31164, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Enrique G. Mendoza & Vincenzo Quadrini, "undated". "Unstable Prosperity:How Globalization Made the World Economy More Volatile," PIER Working Paper Archive 23-003, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Global imbalances; Current account; Equity markets;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F30 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - General
    • F40 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - General

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