Last Thursday, I had the opportunity to testify before the Joint Economic Committee on the US current account deficit, as part of the panel that followed Dr. Bernanke's testimony.

I strongly suspect that I will never testify in the same hearing as Bernanke again.  If you have not heard, he just got a big promotion.

I am sure you all will be shocked to discover that I do not think trade deficits of the current magnitude are sustainable, and that the United States' need for perhaps $900 billion net capital inflows is a risk to next year's economic outlook.   I am pretty sure that I did not say anything that would surprise regular readers of this blog - or, for that matter, anything that Mr. Geithner did not say better last Wednesday.