Some complications
Category Archives: international
The July 2006 Trade Release
How surprising?
How Mobile Is Capital Internationally?
The issue of international capital mobility comes up time and time again. There is the worry of capital and associated production capacity moving abroad to China for lower wage rates, and if not to China, to the rest of the world to escape environmental regulations or to avoid corporate taxation. So how mobile is capital?
A closer look at the US-China trade figures…and more on the RMB
The Renminbi (RMB) is probably undervalued, according to some criteria. Would adjusting it fix the US-China trade deficit? Or the overall US trade deficit?
The June 2006 Trade Figures
Persisting trends, for now
The enigmatic Yuan
The Yuan has not been moving much. Or has it? And does it matter much for the U.S. current account deficit
(Non) transparency of GWOT expenditures, and an update on Iraq metrics
While the events in Lebanon and Gaza have pushed Iraq off center stage, Iraq and Afghanistan remain the largest fiscal drains on the U.S. Treasury and the military’s ability to respond to other strategic challenges. In this light, GAO Comptroller David Walker’s testimony on Tuesday [pdf] is both illuminating and depressing. From the Summary:
Some (delayed) reflections on whether the non-oil trade deficit stabilization at hand — or not
I was out of the country when these data were released, so I didn’t immediately write a post on the data. In any case several commentators covered the ground so well I didn’t have much to add immediately. Several forwarded the possibility of trade deficit (as a share of GDP) stabiization (see here and here), in light of the fact that the May trade release which showed a smaller than consensus deficit. In the past I made similar observations (see here). I remain hopeful, but am still not yet convinced.
Out of sample prediction of the euro, pound and CAD
Once more unto the breach.
One picture from the 2005 International Investment Position release (and one from the NIPA)
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.