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Large government budget deficits generally worsen the current account, and fiscal tightening tends to improve it. This effect operates partly through the exchange rate: when a government borrows less, there is less demand for foreign capital, which lowers interest rates, allows the currency to depreciate, and improves competitiveness.
~ Michael Starr via American Affairs

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America is unique, and comparisons are difficult. The country easily outpaces the rest of the developed world in gun deaths and overdoses, both major mortality drivers here that have largely been accepted as the cost of being American. But even if you discount those peculiarities, plenty of other indicators are pointing the wrong way.
~ Vann Newkirk via The Atlantic

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