Lucky... 0 #1 February 14, 2007 I heard on the news today that the trade deficit for last year was 76B, up 6.5% from last year. I wonder where people think these numbers are going, is it a game, or will we be held accountable one day? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NewGuy2005 53 #2 February 14, 2007 The President has almost nothing to do with the trade deficit. Shortcomings or not, you can't blame all the worlds problems on President Bush. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mnealtx 0 #3 February 14, 2007 Well, you can't expect him to ADMIT that the economy is stronger now than when Bush took office, can you?? Poor guy would have a STROKE...Mike I love you, Shannon and Jim. POPS 9708 , SCR 14706 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
warpedskydiver 0 #4 February 14, 2007 If Lucky were impotent (and I m not saying he is or isn't) he would find a way to blame bush. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lawrocket 3 #5 February 14, 2007 Will we be held accountable? Ask the unions... My wife is hotter than your wife. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,150 #6 February 14, 2007 QuoteI heard on the news today that the trade deficit for last year was 76B, up 6.5% from last year. I wonder where people think these numbers are going, is it a game, or will we be held accountable one day? You are off by a factor of 10. It was $763.6 Billion. What do you expect. When the government sets the example of living beyond its means, the people follow the example. We will be in big trouble when the Chinese get fed up with holding our debt.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCclimber 0 #7 February 14, 2007 Is a trade deficit bad? How so? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,150 #8 February 14, 2007 QuoteIs a trade deficit bad? How so? Is living beyond your means bad?... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #9 February 14, 2007 QuoteIs a trade deficit bad? How so? well, the US is bad, so having money leaving the country is a good thing - it helps all those countries oppressed by the US. Problem is, it's not public so we can't publicly be bleeding hearts about that money going away. They'd rather we stole that income from the little countries, then turned around and gave it to them with a little ceremony. Then the little countries would be dependent on us, rather than earning it through better production and work ethic (as many are doing today). It's the new government way. ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCclimber 0 #10 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteIs a trade deficit bad? How so? Is living beyond your means bad? Is that a yes or a no? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #11 February 14, 2007 QuoteI heard on the news today that the trade deficit for last year was 76B, up 6.5% from last year. I wonder where people think these numbers are going, is it a game, or will we be held accountable one day? Look at the labels on all of your possesions ... how many are made in the USA? (This problem is not caused by the president.)"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,150 #12 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteQuoteIs a trade deficit bad? How so? Is living beyond your means bad? Is that a yes or a no? That depends on what the Chinese do with the (more than)$1Trillion that they hold. Can you predict what the Chinese government will do? I can't. They certainly have the power to hurt our economy badly if they choose to.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
martin-o 0 #13 February 14, 2007 A trade deficit means that you are unable to compete with foreign companies. People choose products from abroad. It's not a god sign! /Martin Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,150 #14 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteI heard on the news today that the trade deficit for last year was 76B, up 6.5% from last year. I wonder where people think these numbers are going, is it a game, or will we be held accountable one day? Look at the labels on all of your possesions ... how many are made in the USA? (This problem is not caused by the president.) Yes and no. The president doesn't have to make statements like this. www.post-gazette.com/pg/04041/271362.stm The government can implement trade policies that affect the balance of trade, but has for the most part chosen not to do so.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #15 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteQuoteI heard on the news today that the trade deficit for last year was 76B, up 6.5% from last year. I wonder where people think these numbers are going, is it a game, or will we be held accountable one day? Look at the labels on all of your possesions ... how many are made in the USA? (This problem is not caused by the president.) Yes and no. The president doesn't have to make statements like this. www.post-gazette.com/pg/04041/271362.stm The government can implement trade policies that affect the balance of trade, but has for the most part chosen not to do so. The government could limit trade, increase import tariffs, or decrease export tariffs. However, the people could start buying more things made in the USA and start buying less things made outside the USA. (People complain the government is getting to big and then complain the government can not and does not do everything for them. )"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCclimber 0 #16 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteIs a trade deficit bad? How so? Is living beyond your means bad? Is that a yes or a no? That depends on what the Chinese do with the (more than)$1Trillion that they hold. Can you predict what the Chinese government will do? I can't. They certainly have the power to hurt our economy badly if they choose to. Why would the Chinese want to hurt the buying power of their largest buyer? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,150 #17 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteI heard on the news today that the trade deficit for last year was 76B, up 6.5% from last year. I wonder where people think these numbers are going, is it a game, or will we be held accountable one day? Look at the labels on all of your possesions ... how many are made in the USA? (This problem is not caused by the president.) Yes and no. The president doesn't have to make statements like this. www.post-gazette.com/pg/04041/271362.stm The government can implement trade policies that affect the balance of trade, but has for the most part chosen not to do so. The government could limit trade, increase import tariffs, or decrease export tariffs. However, the people could start buying more things made in the USA and start buying less things made outside the USA. (People complain the government is getting to big and then complain the government can not and does not do everything for them. ) People could indeed do lots of things, but trade policies over many administrations have limited the people's options. Try buying a TV, DVD player... made in the USA. Successive governments have failed to keep manufacturing in the USA by deliberate policy. Who benefited from those policies? Not US citizens whose jobs went overseas. At some point a country has to create wealth, rather than just moving wealth around with each player skimming his or her % off the top.... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kallend 2,150 #18 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteIs a trade deficit bad? How so? Is living beyond your means bad? Is that a yes or a no? That depends on what the Chinese do with the (more than)$1Trillion that they hold. Can you predict what the Chinese government will do? I can't. They certainly have the power to hurt our economy badly if they choose to. Why would the Chinese want to hurt the buying power of their largest buyer? Ever hear of the word "inscrutible"?... The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCclimber 0 #19 February 14, 2007 QuoteA trade deficit means that you are unable to compete with foreign companies. People choose products from abroad. It's not a god sign! /Martin I think most economists don't see it in such black and white terms. I bring it up because people frequently go all "chicken little" when they hear trade deficit. It's just one piece of the puzzle that should be considered in the context of how a number of other factors are behaving. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #20 February 14, 2007 QuotePeople could indeed do lots of things, but trade policies over many administrations have limited the people's options. Try buying a TV, DVD player... made in the USA. Successive governments have failed to keep manufacturing in the USA by deliberate policy. Who benefited from those policies? Not US citizens whose jobs went overseas. At some point a country has to create wealth, rather than just moving wealth around with each player skimming his or her % off the top. I agree to a certain extent. We (the people) still have the ability to give up material possesions to help correct the trade deficit. However, most people are unwilling to do this."That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
NCclimber 0 #21 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteQuoteIs a trade deficit bad? How so? Is living beyond your means bad? Is that a yes or a no? That depends on what the Chinese do with the (more than)$1Trillion that they hold. Can you predict what the Chinese government will do? I can't. They certainly have the power to hurt our economy badly if they choose to. Why would the Chinese want to hurt the buying power of their largest buyer? Ever hear of the word "inscrutible"? How cryptic. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Butters 0 #22 February 14, 2007 QuoteQuoteThey certainly have the power to hurt our economy badly if they choose to. Why would the Chinese want to hurt the buying power of their largest buyer? Because they learned the lesson of the cold war. War can be faught with a military or an economy."That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rehmwa 2 #23 February 14, 2007 QuotePeople complain the government is getting to big and then complain the government can not and does not do everything for them. Ya know? I really wish the government would do something about it getting too big. ... Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #24 February 14, 2007 QuoteWhy would the Chinese want to hurt the buying power of their largest buyer? Use Suez as a case study to see if you want a foreign power holding large sums of USD. In 1956 UK forces became involved in Egypt during the Suez crisis. Militarily the intervention was highly successful but political pressure from the US forced a withdrawal. The US was embarrassed by the fact that they were at the time being highly critical of an analogous Soviet intervention in Hungary and yet remaining silent regarding their allies' intervention in Egypt. Eden, the UK PM, told Eisenhower to mind his own business – Suez this was a domestic matter for the UK and that the UK was merely protecting its overseas and Commonwealth interests from being usurped by Communist supported Islamists. Eisenhower took a step he later admitted to regretting and told Eden that if he didn't pull UK forces out, the US would destabilize the UK economy by flooding world markets with US reserves of Sterling and force the collapse of the Pound. Faced with complete economic collapse, UK forces were withdrawn. Do you want China to wield that kind of political power over US foreign and domestic policy? In the event of cold war marked by substantive trade embargoes between the US and China, (or hell even an all out shooting match), the Chinese would have already lost their "biggest market" in any event - if the market's gone there's no reason why they shouldn't go right ahead and collapse their adversary's economy by flooding world markets with their Dollar reserves. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billvon 3,120 #25 February 14, 2007 You know, I really don't think the president has all that much to do with the economy. It sort of does its own thing. Sure, the government can set tariffs, tax rates, make sure the infrastructure is there to support it, set interest rates etc but by and large the economy is made up of you and me. Why are jobs going overseas? Because you (and I) buy cheap well-designed imports instead of expensive cruddy domestically produced goods. Short of mandating everyone buy american cars, the president doesn't really get too involved in your decision on that. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
