The current account imbalance in the euro area member countries

The article discusses a current account imbalance in the eurozone member countries, respectively whether the economic policy institutions should respond to the rising external imbalance, even if there is no threat of the monetary crisis. The monetary policy reactions can not be expected resulting from the general current account surplus in the eurozone as the whole. The relevancy of deficits for the eurozone member countries acts as an important factor by an intertemporal budget constraint, where the threat of the monetary crisis that limits the foreign debt accumulation is eliminated and at the same time the financial integration joint with the higher trade market integration enables wider intertemporal consumption allocation venting into the deficit of current account. The mastering of a credit risk by the financial institutions will have a major influence on then optimal intertemporal consumption allocation, if there is no revision of a fiscal policy role.

Keywords: external imbalance, intertemporal approach, eurozone, financial integration