No. 122 - The adjustment of the US current account imbalance: the role of international policy coordination

The United States ran a small current account surplus on average in the 1970s as well as in the two preceding decades. The rapid deterioration in the external balance since 1982 to a massive deficit is thus an unprecedented event in post-war history. Even when normalized for output growth (in nominal terms), the current account appears to have worsened very significantly, well outside previous experience.