Posted on 08/11/2011 7:54:04 AM PDT by milwguy
Edited on 08/11/2011 7:55:59 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
The U.S. trade deficit widened by 4.4% in June to $53.1 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
The stock market is already anticipating another recession, and Europe will be the catalyst for another financial crisis, this time with both banks and gov't debt involved.
The only thing we are exporting are jobs and factories. Since we are becoming more service based all the time, I wonder at the value of this stat anyway.
btt
Drink.
“The only thing we are exporting are jobs and factories. Since we are becoming more service based all the time, I wonder at the value of this stat anyway.”
The free traders told me for years that exporting jobs and factories was good for America.
Could it be they were wrong? They seemed so sure.
I’ve never seen anyone say “exporting jobs and factories was good for America.” And I’ve been here for years. Maybe you’re simply making things up?
Why is this bad economic news always unexpected?
“Maybe you’re simply making things up?”
Or maybe your parsing like a Democrat would to cover for what has been a disaster? Naw, that’s not possible, right?
LLS
So let me see . . . if I parachuted onto a thread to claim that protectionists say stimulus packages and socialized healthcare are good for America and you objected, I could say you are “parsing?”
good thing Obama promised to get us out of NAFTA /sarc
*** I could say you are “parsing?” ***
Sure, you are free to be wrong if you like.
I see I’ve illustrated my point nicely.
Sigh. “Unexpectedly.” Are these people never embarrassed by writing this $h@t?
“I see I’ve illustrated my point nicely.”
Yep, in your mind you’ve successfully proved an apple is an orange. Congrats.
For years free traders here have cheered offshoring. Not every single one, (a nod to your parsing), but most. The cheering involved 2 points, #1 - It would free Americans to do more “important” service and knowledge based jobs. #2 - It would build up foreign markets so that we could sell our services and knowledge.
Yes, I know that the regulatory and tax environment is a factor, but rather than flog Republicans to take that into account, free traders took the approach that cutting costs along with #1 and #2 above were preferable to fighting to keep a manufacturing base in America.
How’s that working out for us?
You are absolutely correct. One principle of free trade (NAFTA, etc) is that production will readjust globally, to the benefit of all.
Labor-intensive industries would leave the USA, headed for cheaper-labor regions. High-tech industries would stay in the USA, and expand to fill the void left by the older industries.
Well, the first part of that all came true. The older industries (clothing production, funiture making, etc.) are mostly all gone now.
But nothing filled that void. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We are now seeing high-tech industries leaving the USA as well.
As just one example, General Electric recently announced that it's moving its 115-year-old X-ray business from Wisconsin to China.
I think what wasn’t considered is that it is even easier to outsource services and knowledge as it was manufacturing. If we were doing this among like countries it would not be such a bad idea, but doing this with 3rd world hell holes and worse, with communists, it just not a winning situation.
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