Fixing this is really very simple, and everyone from Hunter to Paul to Huckabee to Thompson knows it. So do the rest of the clowns, but they won’t risk the loss of power inherent in it.
For the US to reverse the trade imbalance would require the US Dollar to briefly collapse.
That won’t happen (G-d I hope). That being said, this is still bad news, The US dollar can drop 20%+ against foreign currencies and we still can’t compete in international trade. No matter how much we drop the US dollar, we still can’t stem the flow of imports from China. Long term outlooks for US economic growth will be revised downward if this trend continues for 3 or 4 quarters. It will be seen as a signal that no matter what US based manufacturers do to compete internationally, in the long run third world manufacturing facilities using best of trade technologies will eat away and eliminate US foreign and domestic marketshare.
If you got another reasonable explanation of this data, please share.
The whole “US exports will climb to record levels” idea is a complete sham.
First, we are talking about numbers measured in dollars, an item we all are admitting is not what it used to be.
Second, we have been sold to love the “global economy”. What does that mean? It means any serious manufacturing endeavor in America relies on imports - imports that are rising in cost.
Third, if somebody opens yet another Starbucks franchise down the street, YEAH!!! that’s what the dollar needs! Not steel, not wheat, not electronics, we need another Starbucks! And the pimply faced kid behind the counter is gonna save Social Security!
America needs production. America needs education. America needs agriculture. America needs ideas about how to keep the world going and even prosper while resources dwindle.
IIRC, China has pegged its currency to the US dollar. So, however much the US dollar rises or falls, the trade advantages that China enjoys will continue, because relative to the Chinese currency, the US dollar hasn’t changed in value.
A recession is always accompanied by an “improved” trade deficit or a “trade surplus.” Trade Deficit is a measurement invented so that people can have something to wail and tear their clothes about when the economy is good and times are prosperous, i.e. usually during Republican administrations(and Clinton’s, too, because it was the Republican Congress that made the difference in the economy).
Prosperity is always marked by trade deficits.
That was my impression too, but when I saw how many freepers on this very thread are buying what the news liars are selling, I decided it must be market forces at work.
Reality is we got all time high production, exports, wealth, income, employment, and most of the posts here follow a "America is hopeless" spin --and this is a conservative forum, imagine the rants at the openly lib blogs! This is still good though. The fact that the world has more compainers than doers is not new; we can deal with it. You and I are doers and we post good news, understand it and profit from it. We also need to hear from the complainers --not that they make any sense, but they do make up a pretty good chunk of the human race and we need to know they're there.
Cool. Let’s borrow the dollar into complete worthlessness and then we’ll have a trade surplus!
Just imagine how much we could export if we started giving it away for free! It’s genius!!!