CIA World Factbook - Current Account Balance

chusteczka

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2006
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<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html">https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat......d-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html</a>

To me, these are unsupported numbers that are open to wide interpretation, therefore being meaningless. What do you think?

Here are some questions I have when I attempt to interpret the data.
  • How does this data account for population size?
  • How does this data account for retirement plans?
  • Where do the negative values come from? What is excluded? (personal debt, mortgage debt, credit card debt, ... )
  • Is this data related to personal or corporate money flow?
  • Does this data imply strength or weakness in any country's economy?
  • Does the US position with the largest negative value imply the US economy is failing?
  • Is it better to be at the extreme edges of the data or closer to a balanced zero value?

EDIT: it is difficult to link to an https:// site.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publication...world-factbook/rankorder/2187rank.html
 

HombrePequeno

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2001
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The current account is exports minus imports and interest gains on assets. There are a few other items in there but that makes up a large majority of it. None of that has to do with population size or anything like that. The absolute number means very little. It's much better to use it in relation to the size of our economy. Right now our current account deficit is 6.5% of GDP which is pretty large. It's a high number but it's fine currently. We could reduce our current account deficit a decent amount if the government ever showed any fiscal restraint.

The current account is far from meaningless. Many a country has gone into financial collapse because their current account deficit was very high (Argentina, Brazil, etc.). You may want to read up on the current account because it doesn't seem like you know nearly enough about it.
 

chusteczka

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2006
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I did not realize this was a searchable term with any meaning attached to it. I thought this was data of aggregate totals of personal bank accounts. :eek:

Thank you for the information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_account
The current account of the balance of payments is the sum of the balance of trade (exports minus imports of goods and services), net factor income (such as interest and dividends) and net transfer payments (such as foreign aid). A current account surplus increases a country's net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse. Both government and private payments are included in the calculation. The balance of trade is typically the most important part of the current account. This means that changes in the patterns of trade are key drivers of the current account. However, for the few countries with substantial overseas assets or liabilities, net factor payments may be significant. It, with Net Capital Outflow, is a major metric of how much a nation invests or is invested in.
 

HombrePequeno

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2001
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Originally posted by: chusteczka
I did not realize this was a searchable term with any meaning attached to it. I thought this was data of aggregate totals of personal bank accounts. :eek:

Thank you for the information.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Current_account
The current account of the balance of payments is the sum of the balance of trade (exports minus imports of goods and services), net factor income (such as interest and dividends) and net transfer payments (such as foreign aid). A current account surplus increases a country's net foreign assets by the corresponding amount, and a current account deficit does the reverse. Both government and private payments are included in the calculation. The balance of trade is typically the most important part of the current account. This means that changes in the patterns of trade are key drivers of the current account. However, for the few countries with substantial overseas assets or liabilities, net factor payments may be significant. It, with Net Capital Outflow, is a major metric of how much a nation invests or is invested in.

Oh trust me, that isn't even scratching the surface of all of the articles and books done on current account balances and its effects.
 

Bulldog13

Golden Member
Jul 18, 2002
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Jesus, look at where the US is listed.

How do I go about immigrating to Switzerland ?
 

HombrePequeno

Diamond Member
Mar 7, 2001
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Originally posted by: Bulldog13
Jesus, look at where the US is listed.

How do I go about immigrating to Switzerland ?

I'm guessing Switzerland's current account balance is so high because of interest on assets.