Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/152943 
Year of Publication: 
2005
Series/Report no.: 
ECB Working Paper No. 509
Publisher: 
European Central Bank (ECB), Frankfurt a. M.
Abstract: 
Currently the U.S. is experiencing record budget and current account deficits, a phenomenon familiar from the "Twin Deficits" discussion of the 1980s. In contrast, during the 1990s productivity growth has been identified as the primary cause of the US current account deficit. We suggest a theoretical framework which allows to evaluate empirically the relative importance of budget deficits and productivity shocks for the determination of the current account. Using a sample of 21 OECD countries and time series data from 1960 to 2003 we find little evidence for a contemporaneous effect of budget deficits on the current account, while country-specific productivity shocks appear to play a key role.
Subjects: 
budget deficit
current account
Investment
productivity
JEL: 
E62
F32
F41
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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