This paper examines the risks associated with an increase in non-financial corporate debt. It breaks down the sustainability of debt by sector and their resilience to financial shocks along standard sustainability metrics and improved measures of leverage that take into account the composition of debt. In doing so, it hopes to provide different parameters for authorities to create macroprudential policy.

Orthodox trade theory focuses on the reallocation of real resources through trade and ignores the monetary/financial and balance sheet aspects of trade. Once in a while, the Twin Deficits bogey is raised to warn about the perils of fiscal deficits, but current account deficits themselves are generally viewed benignly.

The significance of credit goes beyond simply accommodating changes in the economy’s fundamentals. Credit itself may be among the drivers of the business cycle.

The Private Debt Project and the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank's Center for Household Financial Stability are proud to present the third of our annual "Tipping Points" Household Debt Symposia. Read and download the sessions.