Sewell Chan of the New York Times wrote an article on October 22 on the White House’s proposal to restrain trade imbalances and work with G-20 nations to “agree to curb persistent surpluses and deficits that could contribute to the next financial crisis.” The White House released a letter from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner he wrote to G-20 nations to reduce external imbalances (positive or negative) below four percent of gross domestic product within the next four years.

Chen writes that “Four countries have current-account surpluses exceeding 4 percent: Saudi Arabia (6.7 percent), Germany (6.1 percent), China (4.7 … Continue Reading

Reporting on President Barack Obama’s desire for billions more of deficit stimulus spending, The New York Times‘ David Sanger and Sewell Chan report:

Lawrence H. Summers, the director of the National Economic Council and the economic adviser at Mr. Obama’s elbow, argued that the effects of last year’s $787 billion spending program had not fully kicked in.

President Obama’s stimulus may have only totaled $787 billion when Congressional critics first voted against it, but its costs have increased since then. According to revised accounting by the Congressional Budget Office released this January, because the … Continue Reading