PS. to get back to the British Empire model:
If the British Empire operated at a net deficit, it would never have lasted as long as it did, and in the end, that deficit was money the English people owed TO THEMSELVES! There were no Indian or Egyptian millionaires reaping the benefit of the silk or cotton trades. No Malays making a killing on the bauxite or oil markets. No Rhodesians drawing dividends on investment in the argricultural sector. The Empire served to produce raw materials and buy finished products, and this was the basis of the British EMpire almost from it's inception. In this regard, the higher-paying jobs, and thus, the higher standard of living, was always to be found in Britain.
How is that any different than the United States today (except with regard to the very salient fact that the British Empire doesn't exist anymore)?