> Can someone help me out because I may not be understanding something here.
> Is it actually the case that Switzerland, Norway, and Sweden, even given
> their own thin markets and relatively well off populations, export more
> savings (purchase more foreign securities?) than China and other Asian
> nations? (I assume the reference to "developing Asia" excludes Japan).
If he's talking about the current account surpluses of the non-tiger economies (i.e. Asia minus Japan, S Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore), then he's correct. 2004's current account balances look like this:
Norway+Sweden+Switzerland: + $96 billion
Japan+Hong Kong+Singapore: + $194 billion South Korea+Taiwan: + $48 billion Rest of East Asia (incl China): + $50 billion
The US current account deficit is in a galaxy all its own:
USA: - $647 billion
(Data: http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2187.html)
-- DRR