Do you remember all the fuss about international imbalances? China, some of the emerging countries, the oil exporters, Germany and Japan were building up huge current account surpluses, while the US, the UK, Australia, some other European countries such as Spain and Ireland, and central and eastern European countries were enormously in deficit.

In dollar terms the sums seemed huge. For instance, the US had in 2006 a current deficit of $760bn, while by 2008 the Chinese surplus was well over $400bn and that of the “fuel exporters” over $600bn. In relative terms the numbers are much less frightening. At their 2008 peak, on International Monetary Fund estimates, the global imbalances amounted to 2½ per cent of world gross national product, measured by total surpluses or deficits.