And the Fed’s challenges in getting inflation back up to 2 percent are similar to, but not as severe as, those faced by some other major monetary authorities. Turning to the near-term outlook, after a slow patch in the first half of this year, growth has clearly strengthened.
For example, the gross cross-border investment position of the United States grew at an annual rate of almost 19 percent per year during the second half of the 1990s – more than three times the growth rate for nominal gross domestic product.