This paper explores the interaction between exchange rate alignment and external balance for Japan and the United States. The analysis highlights the influence of current account developments on the yen-dollar exchange rate, as well as the reverse, and the interaction between the capital account...

The paper first surveys recent estimates of the appropriate yen dollar exchange rate that have been proposed in the literature. Most of the more careful estimates suggest that the yen was substantially undervalued against the dollar in early 1985 when it began its steep ascent and some of the...