The Economics Book

322

SAVINGS GLUTS

ABROAD FUEL

SPECULATION

AT HOME

GLOBAL SAVINGS IMBALANCES

IN CONTEXT

FOCUS

Global economy

KEY THINKER

Ben Bernanke (1953– )

BEFORE

2000 US economists Maurice

Obstfeld and Kenneth Rogoff

raise concerns about the large

US trade deficit.

2008 British historian Niall

Ferguson describes a world of

crisis because of overuse

of credit.

AFTER

2009 US economist John B.

Taylor argues against the

existence of a savings glut.

2011 Economists Claudio

Borio of Italy and Piti Disyatat

of Thailand argue that it is

wrong to think that global

imbalances in savings

triggered the financial crisis.

I

n February, 2012, 111 million

Americans watched the

Superbowl on television.

At halftime an advertisement

for Chrysler cars was shown. It

was to become a national talking

point. “It’s halftime in America,

too,” said the ad. “People are out

of work and they’re hurting...

Detroit’s showing us it can be

done. This country can’t be

knocked down with one punch.”

The unashamedly patriotic

implication of the ad—to buy

Chrysler because it would save

American jobs—was in tune with

the feeling among many Americans

that the US had let economic power

slip into foreign, especially