[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I suspect that the mercantilists still think that everyone else will end up with all of the American money and we will be broke, but it doesn't seem to be working out that way, at all.

The joke on the mercantilists is the fact that the most prosperous country has a "negative balance of payments" - a "trade deficit" because less prosperous nations desire to invest in the more prosperous ones.

All in the world a "trade deficit" is is positive net foreign investment in the country. That is its only possible cause.

[ClaireSolt]

Yes, plus they have less money, but they spend what they have here, so they still have less.