This country can’t keep pulling stuff from the money tree. Capital must come IN some times. Mustn’t it? Or is the gubmin money tree indefatigable?
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What added oil production does is keep money from flowing out.
The USA is adding 1 million barrels@day production in 2013 (as it did in 2011 & 2012 & will do the same for the next 4-5 years. Five years from now the USA will become a net oil exporter. That won’t reverse capital flows into the USA. That won’t happen until another great technological revolution picks up steam. That would be advanced robotics and 3d printing. These two together will return much of the industry that has gone to China—back to the USA.
Then the capital flows will come to the USA.
The government’s money printing machine would place the USA in serious do do if not for the enormous growth in oil production.
If not for the oil production growth, the dollar would go down the toilet. As it is, the dollar has been going roughly sideways since the oil boom began in 2009. That is the downward pressure on the dollar of the money printing has been met by the upward pressure on the dollar of oil production.
The US dollar has been the world’s reserve currency. This has given the USA enormous advantages. The USA can essentially borrow money at zero percent interest rates. The Chinese are working overtime to undermine the reserve status of the dollar but imho things like US oil production will thwart their efforts.
A big issue in congress that the dems have totally screwed up is offshore US corporate profits. American corporations have 1 trillion dollars sitting in offshore accounts that they can’t repatriate or invest in the USA because of the tax consequences of moving the money back into the USA. Until congress can lower the taxes to make it logical for them to repatriate their offshore capital—the money will remain abroad.