1955: Balance of Payments

This is part of the Bonddad Economic History Project.  For more information, please see the right side of the blog.

The above chart from the 1955 Federal Reserve Report shows that the US was a net exporter for the year, with total exports of about $20 billion (SAAR) and imports of about $18 billion (SAAR).  This was largely due to Europe getting back on its feet after WWII, but also due to developments in Latin America.

The above chart shows the same information, but also includes US military expenditures.  This is important to remember; by this time the cold war was heating up, so the US would spend a fair amount of money on military exports.  Total military expenditures were a little over $2.6 billion, so they accounted for about 10% of exports.

The above table gives us total imports and exports for the year on a BoP basis.

The following excerpts are from the annual Federal Reserve report and the Economic Report to the President: