the record of a country's transactions with the rest of the world is called the balance of payment. explaining the balance of payment and diagnosing its significance is a main them of international economics. it emerges in a variety of specific contexts: in discussing international capital movements, in relating international transactions to international income accounting, and in discussing virtually every aspect of international monetary policy. like the problem of protectionism, the balance of payment has become a central issue for the united stated because the nation has run huge trade deficits in every year since 1982