An excess of spending over production used to finance business fixed investment could have a payoff in terms of higher future output large enough to service the increased international indebtedness and still leave the country better off.
An increase in the current account deficit as a result of increased private or public consumption would, in contrast, require lower future consumption as some of future BIS Review 95/1997  -8-  production would have to be used to service the higher level of foreign debt. In addition, there is an issue of sustainability.