Quote of the Day

It had to happen sooner or later, I was just expecting much, much later.

Back in September, Simon Johnson of the I.M.F. told us about mysterious sovereign wealth funds which are assets held by governments in another country's currency. The funds have gotten a lot of attention lately because they are rapidly growing in size and it's very hard to know what they're invested in. The U.S. is expected to press for tighter restriction on sovereign wealth funds at this week's G7 meeting. Anyway, here's Johnson's quote:

"at their current level of $3 trillion, sovereign funds aren't a pressing issue. But as the level creeps closer to $10 trillion--although even $10 trillion isn't a huge amount of money--the phenomenon will likely attract greater attention."

I thought we were just getting to point were millions weren't considered a mighty sum? We seem to have skipped right over billions.

But everything is relative. In Johnson's world of international finance, his claim is a little less hyperbolic. Some other big numbers:

- U.S. GDP - $12 trillion
- Total value of traded stocks and bonds denominated in U.S. dollars - $50 trillion
- Global value of traded securities - $165 trillion

Johnson has also set up a blog at the I.M.F. web site to coincide with the release of the latest World Economic Outlook. (HT: Bayesian Heresy)