Trade Imbalances Are Symptoms

Gita Gopinath argues current‑account deficits or surpluses are not intrinsically the policy problem; what matters for citizens and stability are underlying policies, welfare outcomes (jobs, inflation, purchasing power), and the crisis risks those policies create. Political outrage about bilateral trade (e.g., with China) often masks deeper policy and distributional issues that economists should prioritize. — Shifts the public framing away from raw trade‑balance numbers toward the policy drivers and welfare consequences, which would change how voters and governments respond to calls for tariffs or currency confrontation.