[x]

That's because only someone who wasn't a statistician would think i'm wrong. statisticians understand that trade deficits average to zero over time.

Let's hope so.

[DiogenesLamp]

Yeah, the nation went off the rails economically in 1963. Prior to that, there was a lot more economic sanity going on.

[DiogenesLamp]

Couldn't find a version of this for the United States, but here is what the United Kingdom balance of trade looks like from 1870.

This business of trade balances going out of whack is a relatively recent and more modern phenomena.