Commentary
As noted in my previous column, foreign holdings of U.S. dollars are classified as foreign holdings of U.S. assets and, thus, contribute to U.S. trade deficits. But as I argued, it would be perfectly reasonable to classify foreign holdings of U.S. dollars not as holdings of U.S. assets, but instead as foreign purchases of a U.S. export—purchases, specifically, of the services of an especially useful currency to hold or for conducting global commerce.
