Band 8, Heft 2 -

“Global imbalances” manifest in the large current account deficits and surpluses in the global economy and blamed by many for the global financial crisis of 2008 has become a source of much friction and discord among the G-20 economies. Rebalancing the global economy is essential to mitigating the divisions and promoting a more sustainable economic recovery. How and why did these imbalances emerge in the first place, what explains why rebalancing has proven to be so difficult, and what are the implications of failure? This paper addresses these interrelated issues.

The twisted path from Modernity to Globalization has been a long one. It continues, and shall continue, so long as global society and global consciousness grow ever closer.

There is a consensus in the literature that India–Brazil–South Africa (IBSA) Forum is not about trade. The main argument is that the three economies do not have enough complementarities to foster trade and that their cooperation in trade issues is undermined by competition for developed countries’ markets access. This report shows that this argument does not hold. Not only there are potential gains from trade among India, Brazil and South Africa, but also their exports are not sufficient similar to affirm that they are essentially rivals concerning market access. Moreover, it discusses the potential political gains that an increased trade among IBSA members can bring about. More trade can increase cooperation in multilateral negotiations and helps to sustain the coalition of developing countries.