The Ex-Im Bank in the 21st Century: A New Approach?

President Franklin Roosevelt created the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Ex-Im Bank) in 1934 to promote US trade in the midst of the Great Depression. At the outset, the Ex-Im Bank was instructed to supplement, not compete with, private sources of export finance. Historically, the Ex-Im Bank filled gaps when the private sector was reluctant to finance exports to politically uncertain areas—such as Latin America in the 1940s, Europe in the 1950s, and emerging markets more recently. ...