The global financial storm which started in 2007 and which we are still experiencing is one of the very best examples in recent economic history of how much the financial system can exacerbate real economy cycles. Such pro-cyclicality has triggered a lively debate on which tools can be used to...

This paper assesses empirically whether global investors´ risk aversion-and its main determinants (U.S. economic growth and the U.S. risk-free rate)-explains developments in Latin American sovereign spreads. We find that global risk aversion is significant and positively related to sovereign...