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Chinese Foreign Exchange Reserves, Policy Choices and the U.S. Economy

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Abstract

China is both a major trading partner of the United States and the largest official holder of U.S. assets in the world. The value of Chinese foreign exchange reserves peaked at just over $4 trillion in June 2014, but has since declined to $3.19 trillion as of August 2016. This very large decline is in foreign exchange reserves is unprecedented and some analysts have speculated that continued sales of these (mostly U.S.) assets might significantly impact the U.S. and global economies. This article explains the reasons for this large decline in official assets, what China?s policy choices are, and how these choices could affect the U.S. economy.

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  • Christopher J. Neely, 2017. "Chinese Foreign Exchange Reserves, Policy Choices and the U.S. Economy," Working Papers 2017-1, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedlwp:2017-001
    DOI: 10.20955/wp.2017.001
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    3. Bauer, Michael D. & Neely, Christopher J., 2014. "International channels of the Fed's unconventional monetary policy," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 24-46.
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    5. Neely, Christopher J., 2015. "Unconventional monetary policy had large international effects," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 101-111.
    6. Christopher J. Neely, 1999. "An introduction to capital controls," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 81(Nov), pages 13-30.
    7. Michael D. Bordo & Claudia Goldin & Eugene N. White, 1998. "The Defining Moment: The Great Depression and the American Economy in the Twentieth Century," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number bord98-1, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Falk Hendrik Laser & Jan Weidner, 2022. "Currency Compositions of International Reserves and the Euro Crisis," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 33(5), pages 917-944, November.
    2. Laser, Falk Hendrik & Weidner, Jan, 2020. "Currency compositions of international reserves and the euro crisis," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 238, Darmstadt University of Technology, Department of Law and Economics.
    3. Hans-Werner Sinn, 2019. "The Effective Rate of Interest on Target Balances," CESifo Working Paper Series 7878, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Monetary policy; central banks and their policies; foreign exchange; current account;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E52 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Monetary Policy
    • E58 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - Central Banks and Their Policies
    • F31 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Foreign Exchange
    • F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements

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