"Back in those days, in the fifties and sixties, countries had balance of payment's deficits or surpluses, those were reflected much more than today in movements of reserves among countries"

This quote by Robert C. Solomon is describing the financial scenario of nations in the 1950s and 1960s. During this time, countries had either a balance of payments deficit or surplus, which was shown in the movement of reserves among countries. This implies that nations with a deficit would require to obtain reserves from nations with a surplus in order to make up the difference. This was a common practice throughout this time duration, as countries were more reliant on reserves to preserve their balance of payments. Today, nevertheless, countries are less dependent on reserves and more on other techniques to preserve their balance of payments. This quote is a reminder of how different the economic situation remained in the 1950s and 1960s compared to today.