A year ago, in a moment of New Year's euphoria, President Kennedy predicted that the chronic deficit in the U.S. balance of payments could be cut from $2.5 billion in 1961 to $1.5 billion in 1962—and might well be eliminated altogether in 1963. Last week the Administration ruefully faced the realization that the nation will show a payments deficit of at least $1.9 billion for 1962, and that there is no chance for balance until 1964 at the earliest.
The end of the U.S. gold outflow may even be farther away than that,...