The firm has been taking a more speculative bent in recent years, growing its shale assets dramatically as prices slowly crept up.

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That suggests that firms cannot count on being rescued when the two big economies now growing slowly Japan and continental Europe pick up again.

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While the net foreign debt of the U.S. is growing (the result of capital inflows), household net worth is growing faster, meaning foreigners are investing in the U.S. too slowly and conservatively to keep up with our growth.

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