The Effect of Current Account Surpluses on the Economy

If a country makes more than it consumes and invests, it has to do something with those extra goods and services that it makes. And typically, what it does is it sells them abroad. In exchange for that, it uses that money to buy foreign financial assets like government bonds or in some cases, real assets like foreign real estate or foreign business. There's never a net inflow or net outflow of dollars into the US or of euros into Europe or a remandie into China. It always balances to exactly zero.