Go to the BEA website at http://www.bea.gov/iTable/iTable.cfm?reqid=62&step=1&isuri=1#reqid=62&step=6&isuri=1&6210=5&6200=143 and download annual data starting in 1976 on the U.S. end-of-year international investment position (IIP data). For the same time period, download annual data on U.S. nominal GDP from the Interactive Data at http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp. Then compute the annual ratio of the IIP to nominal GDP starting in 1976, and graph the data. The United States has run current account deficits in almost every year since the mid-1980s. Do the data you have graphed therefore surprise you?