Einzelansicht

 Do, 31. Okt. 2019   Huber, Valentina

Prof. Belke Organizer of an international Jean Monnet Workshop on „Current Account (Im-)Balances – Determinants and Policy Implications“

From October 24 to 26, 2019, the University of Duisburg-Essen, the University of Greifswald and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS), Brussels, organized a Jean Monnet Workshop on „Current Account (Im-)Balances of the Euro Area and within the Euro Area Member Countries - Determinants and Policy Implications“, hosted by the Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels. 

Current account (im-)balances played a central role during the financial crisis. The large deficits of a number of euro area countries (in the South and the East) were widely considered unsustainable (at their peak often more than 10 % of GDP). But they have been largely corrected now. The swing of the so-called periphery from deficit to surplus has not been accompanied by a mirror movement of the core as the large surpluses of Germany and some of its neighbours (NL, DK, AT, etc.) continue unabated.

The combination of an unchanged surplus of Germany (and other core countries) with a large turn-around in much of the rest of the euro area has led to a large overall current account surplus of the euro area (over 3 % of GDP). This has created tensions at the global level as the US has remained in deficit (and the surplus of China has disappeared). The euro area surplus has been blamed for transatlantic trade tensions. A special focus will thus be on the current account (im- )balance of the euro area vis-a-vis the United States.

Please find more information here and here.