RPN International Fin
Research Policy Network (RPNs)

International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Project lead

Christoph Trebesch

Director of Research Area "International Finance and Macroeconomics" Kiel Institute for World Economics; Professor of Economics Kiel University

This policy network will focus on three main challenges. First, rising debt levels and growing risks of debt distress. In advanced economies, both public and private debt levels are higher than at any point in the past 150 years. Also, emerging markets and developing countries are increasingly indebted both at home and abroad. In the coming years, debt sustainability will therefore remain a major concern, which is intimately linked to the development of interest rates. Should global rates continue to rise, a new wave of sovereign defaults is a possible scenario.

Second, we are witnessing the rise of new creditor powers. China, in particular, has become an important global creditor over the past 20 years. But also India or Arab countries are increasingly prone to lend and invest across borders. Such “Southern” creditors often rely on state-owned banks and state investment funds; they develop new types of lending contracts that blend elements of official and private finance; and they often export their capital via tax havens. These trends are not well understood. Relatedly, we are seeing new regional lending facilities spring up in Asia, Latin America, and Africa, and new crisis fighting tools, such as the growing network of central bank swap lines by the People’s Bank of China. Taken together, international finance is becoming more heterogeneous and multipolar.

These developments have major implications for the international financial architecture and give rise to new, pressing policy questions. Will the rise of China accelerate financial globalization or rather contribute to reversing it? Will international lending be increasingly politicized in the coming years? How can incumbent institutions like the IMF or the Paris Club be reformed to adapt to the new more multipolar order? How can the more heterogeneous global lending markets be regulated and monitored? How can governments around the world deal with the growing debt burdens? And how can debt crises be resolved more effectively, especially in cases where a large share of the debt is held by official creditors like Western central banks or Chinese state-owned banks?

The International Lending and Sovereign Debt RPN will bring together leading researchers and policymakers interested in these questions. Its main aim is to learn, discuss with each other, and produce new knowledge that can be shared with policymakers and the general public - via research papers, policy reports and columns on voxeu.org. If funding permits, the aim is to meet at least once per year, probably in Europe.

Events

The International Lending and Sovereign Debt RPN will host several events a year, including the International Lending Webinar Series.

RPN Members

Mark Aguiar

Professor of Economics Princeton University

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Laura Alfaro

Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration Harvard University

Fellow, International Trade and Regional Economics / Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Manuel Amador

Monetary Advisor

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Cristina Arellano

Senior Economist Federal Reserve Board of Minneapolis; Adjunct Professor University Of Minnesota

Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Javier Bianchi

Senior Research Economist Federal Reserve Board of Minneapolis

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Fernando Broner

Adjunct Professor Barcelona School Of Economics; Senior Researcher Centre De Recerca En Economia Internacional (CREI); Adjunct Professor Pompeu Fabra University

Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Giancarlo Corsetti

Pierre Werner Chair and Joint Professor, Department of Economics and Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies European University Institute

Fellow, Monetary Economics and Fluctuations / Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, European Economic Policy / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / RPN Leader, European Economic Policy

Barry Eichengreen

George C. Pardee and Helen N. Pardee Professor of Economics and Political Science University Of California, Berkeley

Fellow, Economic History / Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / Fellow, International Trade and Regional Economics / RPN Member, Populism / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Aitor Erce

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Rui Esteves

Professor of International Economics and International History Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID)

Fellow, Economic History / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / Programme Director, Economic History

Anna Gelpern

Professor of Law Georgetown University; Nonresident Senior Fellow Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE)

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Mitu Gulati

Perre Bowen Professor of Law and John V. Ray Research Professor of Law University Of Virginia

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Galina Hale

Professor of Economics University of California, Santa Cruz

Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Sasha Indarte

Assistant Professor of Finance University Of Pennsylvania

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Sebnem Kalemli-Özcan

Neil Moskowitz Endowed Professor of Economics University Of Maryland

Fellow, Macroeconomics and Growth / Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Alberto Martín

Senior Researcher Centre De Recerca En Economia Internacional (CREI); Senior Adviser, DG Research European Central Bank; Research Professor ICREA-Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Barcelona School of Economics

Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Philippe Martin

Vice President, Europe Centre for Economic Policy Research; Professor of Economics and Dean School of Public Affairs Sciences Po Paris University

CEPR Vice President / Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / Fellow, International Trade and Regional Economics / Fellow, Macroeconomics and Growth / RPN Member, Spatial Disparities and Policy / RPN Member, European Economic Policy / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Gernot Müller

Professor of Economics University of Tübingen

Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Ugo Panizza

Vice President, New Ventures Centre for Economic Policy Research; Professor of Economics and Pictet Chair Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID)

Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / CEPR Vice President / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / Occasional Papers

Carmen Reinhart

Minos A. Zombanakis Professor of the International Financial System Harvard Kennedy School

Fellow, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Kenneth Rogoff

Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and Professor of Economics Harvard University

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Jesse Schreger

Class of 1967 Associate Professor Columbia University

Affiliate, International Macroeconomics and Finance / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / Affiliate, Asset Pricing / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Beatrice Weder di Mauro

President Centre for Economic Policy Research; Professor of International Economics Geneva Graduate Institute (IHEID); Visiting Professor Hoffmann Global Institute for Business and Society INSEAD

CEPR President / RPN Member, Sustainable Finance / RPN Member, European Economic Policy / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt / RPN Member, Geoeconomics

Mark Wright

Senior Vice President and Research Director Federal Reserve, Bank of Chicago

RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Chenzi Xu

Assistant Professor Finance, Graduate School of Business Stanford University

Affiliate, International Macroeconomics and Finance / Affiliate, International Trade and Regional Economics / RPN Member, International Lending and Sovereign Debt

Upcoming events

Symposium Banner 1
8 December
Conference

CEPR Paris Symposium

CEPR Paris Symposium 2023

8 Dec 2023 - 14 Dec 2023 in Paris, France

Past events

Symposium Banner 1
8 December
Conference

CEPR Paris Symposium

CEPR Paris Symposium 2023

8 Dec 2023 - 14 Dec 2023 in Paris, France

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Webinar Video

International Lending Webinar Series - 3rd Episode

For the 3rd session of the International Lending Webinar Series on 6 July 2023, 05:00 - 06:30 PM (CET) Ricardo Reis (London School of Economics, NBER, CEPR) presented the paper Jumpstarting an International Currency (co-authored with Saleem Bahaj).

The Series is organised by the CEPR International Lending and Sovereign Debt Research and Policy Network (RPN).