Amid all the relief (see here and — kind of — here) over the improvement in the U.S. net international investment position (NIIP) despite the record current account deficit, the trend in one ratio was unremarked upon — namely the ratio of U.S. Government securities held by non-residents, divided by GDP.
Author Archives: Menzie Chinn
Production subsidies for ethanol
Do we need to subsidize ethanol production? Does it matter if we are subsidizing the input (i.e., corn)? This is not a rhetorical question.
A Budgetary Counterfactual
What if we had not cut taxes for the richest and increased discretionary spending faster than the rate of inflation?
More on the Costs of Energy Dependence
Quantification is the first step in assessing the proper course of action
Measuring the import component of U.S. exports
In order to export in a competitive market, we need to import
Some Iraq cost metrics on a one year anniversary
Evaluating the costs one year after Cheney’s prediction of “the last throes …of the insurgency”
The 2006q1 Current Account figures
Upside surprises. Will they continue?
What happens to the dollar when interest rates stop rising?
Further predictions of secular dollar weakness, from a portfolio balance perspective
The economic impact of a disruption to container trade
Congress acts — to cut funds for port security
April 2006 Trade Balance Figures
Where the ex. oil trade balance is going, and what trade prices are doing.