A Portfolio Approach to Global Imbalances

We use a portfolio‐based framework to understand what drives the decline of the U.S. net foreign asset (NFA) position and the reversal in returns earned on the U.S. NFA (exorbitant privilege). We show that global savings gluts and monetary policies widened the U.S. NFA position, while investor demand shifts partially offset this widening. Moreover, U.S. privilege declined after 2010, in line with increasing foreign demand for U.S. equity. We also highlight a quantity dimension of the U.S. privilege: The U.S. can issue substantially more debt than other countries for a given yield increase.

我们使用一个基于投资组合的框架来理解是什么推动了美国净外国资产（NFA）状况的下降以及美国净外国资产所获回报的逆转（过度特权）。我们表明，全球储蓄过剩和货币政策扩大了美国净外国资产状况，而投资者需求的转变部分抵消了这种扩大。此外，2010年后美国的特权下降，这与外国对美国股票需求的增加相符。我们还强调了美国特权的一个数量维度：在给定收益率上升的情况下，美国能够比其他国家发行多得多的债务。