Fingleton is just wrong and has been for a long time. Briefly,

Life expectancy and birth is mostly a function of how much people drive, eat and shoot each other. In developed countries it tells you almost nothing about the economy.

To measure unemployment in Japan they ask if you have looked for a job in the last two weeks. In the U.S., it's 6 week. Use the U.S. methodology in Japan and male unemployment jumps 60% and female unemployment doubles.

If no one invests in your country, you will almost by definition have a current account surplus.