A complementary explanation, labeled the "global saving glut" by Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke several years ago, argues that during the past decade, declines in investment spending outside the United States – in part because of emergingmarket crises – led to a surplus of saving over investment abroad that was channeled toward the U.S. economy (Bernanke, 2005; Gruber and Kamin, forthcoming).
At a recent seminar in Barbados, (The Advocate May 22, 2004) the Governor of the Central Bank of Barbados had indicated the need for the formation of credit rating agencies in the region to be of assistance to investors who do not have the time or the training to conduct their own credit analyses.