A friend claims that the United States is a net international debtor.The best way of testing this claim is to see whether
A)U)S. foreign liabilities exceeded U.S. foreign income.
B)U)S. receipts from foreign assets exceeded U.S. payments to foreign owners of U.S. assets.
C)U)S. official reserve assets were positive or negative.
D)the United States ran a balance of payments surplus or deficit last year.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The claim that the United States is a net international debtor means that the U.S. owes more money to foreign entities than it owes to the U.S. In order to test this claim, we need to look at whether the U.S. is receiving more money from its foreign assets than it is paying out to foreign owners of U.S. assets. Therefore, choice B is the best option as it directly measures the net international investment position of the United States. A, C, and D are not directly related to the claim.

A Friend Claims That the United States Is a Net