5.8

Real Interest Rates and International Capital Flows

AP Macroeconomics

Real vs. nominal interest rates review

How capital flows work

Capital flows and the loanable funds market

Capital inflows increase the supply of loanable funds

1234567891011121234567Quantity of Loanable FundsReal Interest Rate (%)Closed economyWith capital inflowSLF (domestic)SLF (domestic + foreign)DLF

Capital inflows increase supply of loanable funds → lower r → more investment

Capital outflows decrease the supply of loanable funds

The link: fiscal policy → interest rates → capital flows

Expansionary fiscal policy chain

Effect on the exchange rate

Effect on net exports

Complete chain: fiscal policy to net exports

Monetary policy and capital flows

Contractionary monetary policy

Expansionary monetary policy

The twin deficits hypothesis

Summary: policy → rates → flows → exchange rate → trade

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