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One is a current account, one is a capital account. The US has been running a current account deficit, and the only way to sustain that is to have a capital account surplus, which means foreign investment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_account

Just like a business, a country can maintain short term losses by accepting outside investment, or debt. This is not necessarily a bad thing. Almost all companies take on debt and investment to fund their growth.

Also, just like a business, you can’t do this forever. At some point the debt comes due, and/or you end up selling the whole business.




Or to be the world's reserve currency. One of our major exports is dollars. We can keep running some level of deficit so long as that continues. With inflation, the world needs more and more dollars.

Outside investment in businesses is not a bad thing. Outside investment in land is.




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