A Non-Linear Approach to Current Account Sustainability—The Cases of Germany, China, and the USA

Abstract

This paper examines the sustainability of the current account balances for three leading economies that play significant roles in global financial and geopolitical developments: Using the concept of sustainability as the ability of an economy to meet its long-term intertemporal budget constraint, the analysis evaluates whether the current accounts of these three economies can maintain this condition without requiring substantial policy interventions or significant changes in private sector behavior. The stationarity of the current account is considered a sufficient condition for testing the sustainability of the current account balance. However, it is argued that the common assumption of a linear process for the current account under the alternative hypothesis of stationarity may not accurately reflect reality, as the current account may exhibit non-linear behavior. Therefore, both linear and non-linear unit root tests are employed to investigate current account sustainability. The results of the unit root tests indicate that the current account balances of Germany, China, and the United States are unsustainable. These findings have significant implications for the economic stability and policy direction of these major economies.