ABSTRACT
The first section briefly reviews the world savings and investment trends of the recent past. The second section considers the most important aspects of a savings gap in Europe, which could occur in the near future. The third section analyses the effects of a regional savings gap on the rest of the world. At first we will look back at the traditional two-country macro-model ci la Mundell (1968). Then we proceed to the three-country models, which enable us to study the interactions between a two-country exchange-rate union and a third country. Finally we develop a simple exchangerate union model, stressing supply-side interactions between the countries. With the help of this model it should be possible to derive some international transmission effects of the expected rise in investment in the united Germany, which is an EMS member country. The fourth section gives an account of some empirical work on the worldwide effects of German unification. The last section concludes the chapter with an outlook,
rates. Between 1980 and 1987 the savings rate was high in Japan (31 per cent), on the average in Germany (22 per cent), Canada (21 per cent) and France (20 per cent), low in the UK (18 per cent) and in the USA (17 per cent).
