But the point to make is that focusing on the net balance of these flows, which is the current account position, is not particularly helpful relative to more scrutiny of the various components of the gross capital flows. 5  Pitchford J (1989), “A Sceptical View of Australia’s Current Account and Debt Problem”, The Australian Economic Review, 86, pp 5–14.
6  This “exorbitant privilege” is examined in detail by Gourinchas P-O and H Rey (2005), “From World Banker to World Venture Capitalist: US External Adjustment and the Exorbitant Privilege”, NBER Working Paper 11563 and Curcuru S, T Dvorak and F Warnock (2010), “Decomposing the U.S. External Returns Differential”, Journal of International Economics, 80, pp 22–32.