Tuesday, February 13, 2007

US trade still in deficit

BBC News - US trade deficit hits fresh high
The US trade deficit rose 6.5% last year to hit a new record high of $763.6bn (£393bn).

Fuelled by last year's rise in global oil prices and the surge in Chinese imports, it was the fifth record annual US trade deficit in succession.

The gap with China alone was $232.5bn last year, the largest imbalance the US has ever recorded with one country.
Now I'll start by admitting that I hate IPE with a purple passion. Anyway, I've been told on multiple occasions that the fact that the US has a trade deficit only means that we have lots of money to spend so we spend it on things made in other countries. Okay, I get that, but how long can we maintain such a growing imbalance? It would seem there would have to be some outer limit or threshold.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gee Jan, maybe you should use a calculator for this one...it might help your mental math on the subject. Also, I don't understand your reasoning by analogy on the Iraqi maps issue. Seems to me the issue is how people use information, not whether or not it's made more readily available. A lot of people should use calculators and spell check because they're both productivity enhancers for most people. It's not what you learn, it's how you apply it. Plus you're talking about elementary school, and not college, which makes your analogy even less accurate. That is all.

"I don’t know about you, but I’m getting really tired of the argument that people no longer need to actually learn anything, because all information is now so readily available. It is just a crutch, in my opinion. Should elementary schools stop teaching addition and multiplication because calculators are readily available? Should we not teach spelling because of dictionaries and spell-check?

I wish these people would give it a rest already!"

Jan said...

Actually, I was engaging in a bit of hyperbole with the calculator and spell check references. Since your comment really does not pertain to this post, I'll finish answering your question in a post of its own.

And just for the record, I love both calculators and spell check.