Maggie Chamberlain, Chapter 11, Question #6

I thought it was really interesting how, although we see ourselves as competitors with other countries because of our differing economies and currencies, we actually help each other out. As Wheelan mentioned, it's not a zero-sum game like baseball. In the global economy, it's not that one nation wins and all of the others have to lose as a result. Through the example of New Zealand's large deficit, Wheelan helped to explain the relationship that countries have with one another. The rest of the world steadily accumulates New Zealand's dollars through selling more to New Zealand than they are buying from it and trading their accumulated  New Zealand dollars for their home currency. The supply of New Zealand dollars for sale will then exceed the demand for them, pushing the value of New Zealand's dollar down relative to other countries. This will increase the demand for New Zealand's less expensive products and will increase exports, narrowing the current account deficit. So, it's necessary for nations to work together by buying each other's products and trading in order to all win in the end.