Council on Foreign Relations

In his State of the Union address, President Obama set an ambitious goal of doubling exports in five years. To achieve this goal, exports must grow by nearly 15% annually, shown by the red line in the chart above. Since 1965, the only time such a nominal growth rate has been achieved for several years was in the mid-1970s. This growth was driven by high inflation, and was thus in large part a money illusion. In the early 1990s and late 2000s, export growth neared the 15% rate. As illustrated by the gray boxes, in each case the U.S. real exchange rate declined significantly during the period. Thus to realize his export ambitions, the president will likely need significant (and unwelcome) inflation or another major fall in the dollar – or both.

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The Federal Reserve plans to stop buying securities issued by government housing loan agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the end of the first quarter. This is not only likely to push up mortgage rates; Treasury rates should rise as well. Throughout 2009, the private sector sold a portion of their agency holdings to the Fed and used those funds to buy Treasurys. Once the Fed’s agency purchases stop, this private sector portfolio shift will end, removing a major source of demand in the Treasury market. As the chart shows, since the start of 2009 the Fed has bought or financed the entire increase in Treasury issuance. As Fed purchases slow and Treasury issuance continues at a high level, interest rates will have to move up to attract new buyers.

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The U.S. is increasing its military and civilian presence in Afghanistan as part of the Obama administration’s efforts to bring stability to the region and reduce the threat of terrorism at home. Economic growth is critical for building a stable society in a war-torn country. Although Afghanistan’s economy has grown by 20 percent annually since 2002, this growth has largely been driven by foreign aid. Aid has risen by 25 percent annually since 2002, increasing from 32 percent of GDP in 2002 to 42 percent in 2008. These massive aid inflows have fueled corruption, and leave the economy exposed to destabilizing shocks once aid is withdrawn. Building a functional, self-sustaining Afghan economy is therefore vital to the success of the U.S. and coalition mission in the country.

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Central banks have been consistent suppliers to the gold market, at least up until the second quarter of 2009, when they became a source of demand. India bought a substantial 200 tons, illustrated by the red bar on the far right of the above figure, from the IMF in November. Russia, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius have also been buyers of late. Yet even if the rebuilding of central bank gold stocks turns out to be a long-term trend, in the short run the gold market is much more likely to be driven by volatile private investment demand, which jumped from only 8% of demand in the third quarter of 2008 to 86% in the first quarter of 2009 (see the orange block on the right of the figure). Investment demand is in part facilitated by exchange traded funds (ETFs) such as the SPDR Gold Shares, which has bought a massive 353 tons of gold since the beginning of 2009.

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The credit risk of oil exporting countries such as Venezuela and Russia tends to move with the price of oil. As a country’s oil export revenue improves, so does its ability to pay its debts. Recently, however, Venezuela’s CDS spreads have increased even while the price of oil has been stable. The market’s perception of an increased risk of default coincides with the Venezuelan government’s move to close banks representing 8% of the country’s deposits. On Tuesday December 15th the Venezuelan National Assembly passed a law increasing depositors’ insurance in an effort to prevent a run on the banks. Problems in the financial sector have become the primary driver of Venezuelan sovereign credit risk.

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