My answer is no. If the IMF is irrelevant (I don't think it is), it is not because private capital inflows to emerging markets have rebounded to pre-crisis (i.e. 1996/97) levels.  It is because emerg…

Growth over the past ten years (all data from the IMF)USA:  3.3 (05 estimate: 3.5); Spain: 3.7 (05 estimate: 3.2)Current account deficit (percent of GDP) 1997US: -1.7; Spain: -0.12005 (estimate)US:  …

I agreed with a lot of what Fareed Zakaria wrote about Germany - certainly I would agree that Germany has done a lot more reform than France over the past few years.Compare Germany with France. In Ge…

Not the oil price per se, but what oil producers are doing with all the coin that comes with high oil prices.  I have rattled on and on about how China's current account surplus is on track to reac…

Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to testify before the Joint Economic Committee on the US current account deficit, as part of the panel that followed Dr. Bernanke's testimony. I strongly suspe…