Current Account Deficit

Categories: Econ, Banking

Economics...is exhausting.

Perhaps that’s why just 25% of U.S. Congressional Members have any background in the discipline.

It’s especially more difficult once you really understand how nations manage trade deficits and surpluses, foreign investments, and numbers that can range into the trillions of dollars.

One thing we’ll bet you’re not discussing at dinner tonight is the “current account.” This is the figure you get when you subtract a country’s imports from its exports.

When a country has more imports than it does exports, it's operating a current account deficit. Which means that it's a "net debtor” to markets around the globe.

Find other enlightening terms in Shmoop Finance Genius Bar(f)