Off Balance
Sir: I was impressed by your concise and balanced presentation of the Administration's proposed balance of payments program [Jan. 12]. It is indeed surprising and somewhat disappointing, in the light of what economists now know about the mechanics of the balance of payments adjustment, that this package of direct controls over international-capital flows and foreign travel should be presented to the public as an operational remedy for the chronic American payments deficit. Even without considering possible foreign retaliatory measures, the combined negative "feedbacks" (e.g., reduced exports and return flows of earnings on loans and investments abroad) will do much over...
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