After 1982 the international investment position of the United States dramatically shifted from one of sizable net creditor to much more sizable net debtor. As the U.S. deficit on current international transactions soared to record levels during the mid-1980s, some observers perceived a grave...

Among the major categories of international transactions, perhaps none is usually farther from the limelight than unilateral, or unrequited, transfers. This obscurity is puzzling, because countries' net receipts or payments of unrequited transfers often exceed their international balances on...