Euro-Zone Current Account Balance Turns Negative

The ECB today reports that the Euro-zone current account balance detriorated rapidly in 2005, as the 2004 surplus of €43.5 billion was turned into a deficit of €29.0 billion. The deterioration accelerated in the last few months of the year. The December 2004 surplus of €2.7 billion was for example turned into a €5.3 billion deficit in December 2005.

This is yet another symptom of the loose monetary policies of the ECB and it illustrates that deficient demand is not what is causing sluggish Euro-zone growth. Instead it is supply constraints caused by excessive taxation and regulations.