How long can the current account deficit be sustained? To say that a current account deficit is unsurprising or explainable is not to say that it is sustainable in the long run. With the net external debt of the United States rising more rapidly than GDP, some narrowing of the deficit is inevitable.
José Manuel González-Páramo: National Accounts for monetary policy making – reflections on the use of the Euro Area Accounts in the light of the financial crisis Contribution by Mr José Manuel González-Páramo, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, to the Eurostat conference national account 2009 “Reading the present to prepare the future”, Session 2: Awakening from the financial and economic crisis Brussels, 16 September 2009.