CHAPTER FIVE

macro The Open Economy

macroeconomics
fifth edition

N. Gregory Mankiw
PowerPoint® Slides
by Ron Cronovich

© 2003 Worth Publishers, all rights reserved

 Chapter objectives
 accounting identities for the open
economy
 small open economy model
 what makes it “small”
 how the trade balance and exchange
rate are determined
 how policies affect trade balance &
exchange rate

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 1

 Imports and Exports
as a percentage of output: 2002
50%
45%
40%
Percentage of GDP

35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Canada France Germany Italy Japan Mexico U.K. USA

Imports Exports
source: OECD

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 2

 In an open economy,
 spending need not equal output
 saving need not equal investment

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 3

 Preliminaries
d f
C C C superscripts:
d f d = spending on
I I I domestic goods
G G d G f f = spending on
foreign goods
EX = exports =
foreign spending on domestic goods
IM = imports = C f + I f + G f
= spending on foreign goods
NX = net exports (a.k.a. the “trade balance”)
= EX – IM
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 4
 GDP = expenditure on
domestically produced g & s
Y  C d  I d  G d  EX

 (C  C f )  (I  I f )  (G  G f )  EX

 C  I  G  EX  (C f  I f  G f )

 C  I  G  EX  IM

 C  I  G  NX

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 5

 The national income identity
in an open economy

Y = C + I + G + NX

or, NX = Y – (C + I + G )

domestic
spending
net exports
output

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 6

 Trade surpluses and deficits

NX = EX – IM = Y – (C + I + G )

 trade surplus:
output > spending and exports > imports
Size of the trade surplus = NX
 trade deficit:
spending > output and imports > exports
Size of the trade deficit = –NX

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 7

 U.S. net exports (% of GDP), 1975-2003
2%

1%

0%

-1%

-2%

-3%

-4%

-5%
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 8

 International capital flows
 Net capital outflows
=S –I
= net outflow of “loanable funds”
= net purchases of foreign assets
the country’s purchases of foreign assets
minus foreign purchases of domestic assets

 When S > I, country is a net lender

 When S < I, country is a net borrower

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 9

The link between trade & cap. flows

NX = Y – (C + I + G )
implies
NX = (Y – C – G ) – I
= S – I
trade balance = net capital outflows

Thus,
a country with a trade deficit (NX < 0)
is a net borrower (S < I ).

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 10

The world’s largest debtor nation
 U.S. has had large trade deficits, been a
net borrower each year since the early 1980s.
 As of 12/31/2002:
 U.S. residents owned $6.9 trillion worth of
foreign assets
 Foreigners owned $9.2 trillion worth of U.S.
assets
 U.S. net indebtedness to rest of the world:
$2.3 trillion---higher than any other country,
hence U.S. is “world’s largest debtor nation”

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 11

 Saving and Investment
in a Small Open Economy
 An open-economy version of the loanable
funds model from chapter 3.
 Includes many of the same elements:
production function: Y  Y  F (K , L )

consumption function: C  C (Y T )
investment function: I  I (r )
exogenous policy variables: G  G , T  T

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 12

 National Saving:
The Supply of Loanable Funds

r S  Y  C (Y  T )  G

As in Chapter 3,
national saving does
not depend on the
interest rate

S S, I

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 13

 Assumptions re: capital flows
a. domestic & foreign bonds are perfect substitutes
(same risk, maturity, etc.)
b. perfect capital mobility:
no restrictions on international trade in assets
c. economy is small:
cannot affect the world interest rate, denoted r*

a & b imply r = r*
c implies r* is exogenous

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 14

 Investment:
The Demand for Loanable Funds

r Investment is still a
downward-sloping function
of the interest rate,
but the exogenous
world interest rate…
r* …determines the
country’s level of
investment.
I (r )

I (r* ) S, I

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 15

 If the economy were closed…
r S
…the interest
rate would
adjust to
equate
investment
and saving: rc
I (r )

I (rc ) S, I
S
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 16
 But in a small open economy…
the exogenous r
S
world interest
rate determines
investment… NX
…and the r*
difference
between saving rc
and investment I (r )
determines net
capital outflows
I1 S, I
and net exports

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 17

 Three experiments
1. Fiscal policy at home

2. Fiscal policy abroad

3. An increase in investment demand

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 18

 1. Fiscal policy at home
r S2 S1
An increase in G
or decrease in T NX2
reduces saving. r *
1

NX1
Results:
I  0
NX  S  0 I (r )

I1 S, I

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 19

NX and the Government Budget Deficit
Budget deficit

Percent of GDP
4 8
Percent of GDP

3
(right scale) 6

2 4

1 2

0 0

-1 -2

-2 -4

-3 Net exports -6
(left scale)
-4 -8

-5 -10
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 20

 2. Fiscal policy abroad
r S1
Expansionary
NX2
fiscal policy
abroad raises r2*
NX1
the world
interest rate. r1
*

Results:
I  0 I (r )
NX  I  0
S, I
I (r )
2
*
I (r1* )

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 21

3. An increase in investment demand
r
S

r*
EXERCISE:
Use the model to NX1
determine the impact
of an increase in
investment demand I (r )1
on NX, S, I, and net
capital outflow. I1 S, I

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 22

3. An increase in investment demand
r
S
ANSWERS: NX2
I > 0, r*
S = 0,
net capital NX1
outflows and I (r )2
net exports
fall by the I (r )1
amount I
I1 I2 S, I

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 23

 The nominal exchange rate

e = nominal exchange rate,

the relative price of
domestic currency
in terms of foreign currency
(e.g. Yen per Dollar)

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 24

Exchange rates as of June 23, 2003

country exchange rate

Euro 0.86 Euro/$
Japan 117.5 Yen/$
Mexico 10.5 Pesos/$
Russia 30.4 Rubles/$
South Africa 7.9 Rand/$
Turkey 1,432,815.9 Liras/$
U.K. 0.60 Pounds/$

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 25

 The real exchange rate

ε = real exchange rate,

the relative price of
the lowercase domestic goods
Greek letter in terms of foreign goods
epsilon
(e.g. Japanese Big Macs per
U.S. Big Mac)

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 26

Understanding the units of ε
e P
ε 
P *
(Yen per $)  ($ per unit U.S. goods)

Yen per unit Japanese goods

Yen per unit U.S. goods


Yen per unit Japanese goods

Units of Japanese goods


per unit of U.S. goods

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 27

 ~ McZample ~
 one good: Big Mac
 price in Japan:
P* = 200 Yen
 price in USA:
P = $2.50
 nominal exchange rate
e = 120 Yen/$ To buy a U.S. Big Mac,
e P someone from Japan
ε  would have to pay an
P*
120  $2.50 amount that could buy
  1.5 1.5 Japanese Big Macs.
200 Yen

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 28

 ε in the real world & our model
 In the real world:
We can think of ε as the relative price of
a basket of domestic goods in terms of a
basket of foreign goods
 In our macro model:
There’s just one good, “output.”
So ε is the relative price of one country’s
output in terms of the other country’s output

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 29

 How NX depends on ε
ε  U.S. goods become more expensive
relative to foreign goods
 EX, IM
 NX

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 30

 U.S. Net Exports and the
Real Exchange Rate, 1975-2003
Percent of GDP

1973:1 = 100
2% 140

1% 120

0% 100

-1% 80

-2% 60

-3% 40

-4% 20

-5% 0
1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000

Net exports (left scale)

Real exchange rate index (right scale)

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 31

 The net exports function
 The net exports function reflects this
inverse relationship between NX and ε:
NX = NX (ε )

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 32

 The NX curve for the U.S.

so U.S. net
When ε is exports will
relatively low, be high
U.S. goods are ε1
relatively
inexpensive NX(ε)
0 NX
NX(ε1)
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 33
 The NX curve for the U.S.

ε At high enough
values of ε,
ε2 U.S. goods become
so expensive that
we export
less than
we import

NX(ε)

NX(ε2) 0 NX

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 34

 How ε is determined
 The accounting identity says NX = S  I
 We saw earlier how S  I is determined:
• S depends on domestic factors (output,
fiscal policy variables, etc)
• I is determined by the world interest
rate r *
 So, ε must adjust to ensure
NX (ε )  S  I (r *)

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 35

 How ε is determined

Neither S nor I
ε S 1  I (r *)
depend on ε,
so the net
capital outflow
curve is vertical.

ε1
ε adjusts to
equate NX NX(ε )
with net capital
outflow, S  I. NX
NX 1

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 36

 Interpretation: supply and demand in
the foreign exchange market
demand:
ε S 1  I (r *)
Foreigners need
dollars to buy
U.S. net exports.

supply: ε1
The net capital
outflow (S  I ) NX(ε )
is the supply of
dollars to be NX
NX 1
invested abroad.

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 37

 Four experiments
1. Fiscal policy at home

2. Fiscal policy abroad

3. An increase in investment demand

4. Trade policy to restrict imports

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 38

 1. Fiscal policy at home
A fiscal expansion
reduces national S 2  I (r *)
saving, net capital ε S 1  I (r *)
outflows, and the
supply of dollars in ε2
the foreign
exchange market…
ε1

…causing the NX(ε )

real exchange
rate to rise and NX
NX 2 NX 1
NX to fall.

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 39

 2. Fiscal policy abroad

An increase in r* S 1  I (r1 *)
reduces investment, ε S 1  I (r2 *)
increasing net
capital outflows and ε
1
the supply of dollars
in the foreign
exchange market… ε 2

…causing the NX(ε )

real exchange NX
rate to fall and NX 1 NX 2
NX to rise.
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 40
 3. An increase in investment demand

An increase in S1  I 2
investment ε S1  I 1
reduces net
capital outflows
ε2
and the supply
of dollars in the
foreign exchange ε1
market…
NX(ε )
…causing the
NX
real exchange NX 2 NX 1
rate to rise and
NX to fall.
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 41
 4. Trade policy to restrict imports

At any given value of

ε, an import quota ε S I
 IM  NX
 demand for ε2
dollars shifts
right ε1
NX (ε )2
Trade policy doesn’t
NX (ε )1
affect S or I , so
capital flows and the NX
NX1
supply of dollars
remains fixed.
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 42
 4. Trade policy to restrict imports

Results:
ε S I
ε > 0
(demand
increase) ε2
NX = 0
(supply fixed) ε1
IM < 0 NX (ε )2
(policy)
NX (ε )1
EX < 0
(rise in ε ) NX
NX1

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 43

 The Determinants of the
Nominal Exchange Rate
 Start with the expression for the real
exchange rate:
e P
ε 
P *

 Solve it for the nominal exchange rate:

P*
e  ε 
P

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 44

 The Determinants of the
Nominal Exchange Rate
 So e depends on the real exchange rate
and the price levels at home and abroad…
 …and we know how each of them is
determined:
M*
 L *
(r *   *, Y *
)
P *

P*
e  ε 
P
M
 L (r *   , Y )
NX (ε )  S  I (r *) P

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 45

 The Determinants of the
Nominal Exchange Rate
P*
e  ε 
P
 We can rewrite this equation in terms of
growth rates (see “arithmetic tricks for working
with percentage changes,” Chap 2 ):
e ε P * P ε
     
*

e ε P *
P ε
 For a given value of ε,
the growth rate of e equals the difference
between foreign and domestic inflation rates.

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 46

 Inflation and nominal exchange rates
Percentage 10
change
9
in nominal
exchange 8 South Africa
rate 7
6 Depreciation
5 Italy relative to
U.S. dollar
4 New Zealand
Australia Spain
3 Sweden
Ireland
2 Canada
1 France UK
Belgium
0
-1 Appreciation
Germany Netherlands
-2 relative to
Switzerland U.S. dollar
-3 Japan
-4
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Inflation differential

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 47

Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
Two definitions:
– a doctrine that states that goods must sell at
the same (currency-adjusted) price in all
countries.
– the nominal exchange rate adjusts to
equalize the cost of a basket of goods across
countries.
Reasoning:
– arbitrage, the law of one price

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 48

 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
 PPP: e P = P* Cost of a basket of
foreign goods, in
foreign currency.

Cost of a basket of Cost of a basket of

domestic goods, in domestic goods, in
foreign currency. domestic currency.

 Solve for e : e = P*/P

 PPP implies that the nominal exchange rate
between two countries equals the ratio of
the countries’ price levels.
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 49
 Purchasing Power Parity (PPP)
 If e = P*/P,
P P* P
then ε e *   * 1
P P P
and the NX curve is horizontal:
ε
S I Under PPP, changes
in (S  I ) have no
impact on ε or e.
ε =1 NX

NX
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 50
Does PPP hold in the real world?
No, for two reasons:
1. International arbitrage not possible.
 nontraded goods
 transportation costs
2. Goods of different countries not perfect
substitutes.
Nonetheless, PPP is a useful theory:
• It’s simple & intuitive
• In the real world, nominal exchange rates
have a tendency toward their PPP values over
the long run.
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 51
 CASE STUDY
The Reagan Deficits revisited
actual closed small open
1970s 1980s
change economy economy
G–T 2.2 3.9   
S 19.6 17.4   
r 1.1 6.3   no change
I 19.9 19.4   no change
NX -0.3 -2.0  no change 
ε 115.1 129.4  no change 
Data: decade averages; all except r and ε are expressed
as a percent of GDP; ε is a trade-weighted index.
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 52
The U.S. as a large open economy
 So far, we’ve learned long-run models for
two extreme cases:
 closed economy (chapter 3)
 small open economy (chapter 5)
 A large open economy --- like the U.S. --- is
in between these two extremes.
 The analysis of policies or other exogenous
changes in a large open economy is a mixture of
the results for the closed & small open economy
cases.
 For example…
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 53
 A fiscal expansion in three models
A fiscal expansion causes national saving to fall.
The effects of this depend on the degree of openness:
closed large open small open
economy economy economy
rises, but not as much no
r rises
as in closed economy change
falls, but not as much no
I falls
as in closed economy change
no falls, but not as much as
NX falls
change in small open economy

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 54

 Chapter summary
1. Net exports--the difference between
 exports and imports
 a country’s output (Y )
and its spending (C + I + G)
2. Net capital outflow equals
 purchases of foreign assets
minus foreign purchases of the country’s assets
 the difference between saving and investment
3. National income accounts identities:
 Y = C + I + G + NX
 trade balance NX = S  I net capital outflow

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 55

 Chapter summary
4. Impact of policies on NX :
 NX increases if policy causes S to rise
or I to fall
 NX does not change if policy affects
neither S nor I. Example: trade policy
5. Exchange rates
 nominal: the price of a country’s currency in
terms of another country’s currency
 real: the price of a country’s goods in terms of
another country’s goods.
 The real exchange rate equals the nominal rate
times the ratio of prices of the two countries.

CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 56

 Chapter summary
6. How the real exchange rate is determined
 NX depends negatively on the real exchange
rate, other things equal
 The real exchange rate adjusts to equate
NX with net capital outflow
7. How the nominal exchange rate is determined
 e equals the real exchange rate times the
country’s price level relative to the foreign
price level.
 For a given value of the real exchange rate,
the percentage change in the nominal
exchange rate equals the difference between
the foreign & domestic inflation rates.
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 57
CHAPTER 5 The Open Economy slide 58