More from these Authors

• Article | athenaInsight

  The No-excuses Way to Manage Healthcare Growth

  Len Schlesinger

  Citation:

  Schlesinger, Len. "The No-excuses Way to Manage Healthcare Growth." athenaInsight (November 28, 2017).  View Details

  CiteView Details Read Now

  Related

• Other Article | Harvard Business Review (website)

  Giving Doctors What They Need to Avoid Burnout

  Len Schlesinger and Josh Gray

  Citation:

  Schlesinger, Len, and Josh Gray. "Giving Doctors What They Need to Avoid Burnout." Harvard Business Review (website) (October 31, 2017).  View Details

  CiteView Details Register to Read

  Related

• Case | HBS Case Collection | July 2005 (Revised August 2017)

  The U.S. Current Account Deficit

  Laura Alfaro, Rafael Di Tella, Ingrid Vogel, Renee Kim, Matthew Johnson and Jonathan Schlefer

  Investors and policymakers throughout the world were confronted with the risk of painful economic consequences arising from the large U.S. current account deficit. In 2007, the U.S. current account deficit was $731 billion, equivalent to 5.3% of GDP. The implications of the deficit were debated with intensity. At one extreme, it was argued that large deficits would eventually resolve themselves smoothly, even if they persisted for many more years. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was among those expecting a "benign resolution to the U.S. current account imbalance." Other analysts, such as economists at the World Bank, believed the large deficits raised the risk of a sharp and disorderly fall of the dollar and that necessary macroeconomic adjustment could be painful, for the United States as well as for the rest of the world. The Financial Times asked: "How long will foreigners be prepared to make such generous 'gifts' to the US?" In this environment, Berkshire Hathaway, run by legendary investor Warren Buffett, postulated that current account imbalances would lead to "some chaotic markets in which currency adjustments play a part" and announced to shareholders a plan to increase investment in overseas companies to protect against this risk. It remained to be seen what the short- and long-term implications of the current account deficit would ultimately yield.

  Keywords: Macroeconomics; Borrowing and Debt; Currency; Foreign Direct Investment; Business and Government Relations; United States;

  Citation:

  Alfaro, Laura, Rafael Di Tella, Ingrid Vogel, Renee Kim, Matthew Johnson, and Jonathan Schlefer. "The U.S. Current Account Deficit." Harvard Business School Case 706-002, July 2005. (Revised August 2017.)  View Details

  CiteView DetailsEducatorsPurchase

  Related