What non-resident investment should be attracted?

OECD countries with chronic external deficits (e.g. the United States, the United Kingdom and France) need to attract capital from non-residents. But what kind of capital should they attract? There is a temptation to attract non-resident investment in equities and corporate capital, with the idea that such investments create jobs. But in reality, this is a bad idea, because the country’s capital income is then paid to the rest of the world, which is impoverishing; The best solution is actually to attract non-residents to buy the country’s public debt; this provides low-cost financing of the external deficit, frees up the country’s savings for equity investment and keeps capital income in the country. This model is the traditional model of the United States and France, while the United Kingdom is financed through capital inflows in shares and direct investment.