Financial Flows to the United States in 2022: Was There Fragmentation?

Abstract

Events of the last five years, such as the U.S.-China trade war, the COVID-19 pandemic, and—most recently—Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have raised concerns in the popular press and among policymakers that the international economic and financial system is at risk of becoming significantly fragmented (Aiyar et al., 2023; Ip, 2023; Shin, 2023). Most recently, attention has shifted to the possibility of fragmentation along geopolitical lines, where countries primarily trade with and invest in other countries with which they share close diplomatic and political ties (International Monetary Fund, 2023a,b).