The only times we have not had a trade gap in the last 60-70 years we were in a recession. So, tell me again, why do we want a trade surplus?
The only times we have not had a trade gap in the last 60-70 years we were in a recession. So, tell me again, why do we want a trade surplus?
Good point, I don't know why all the protectionists want a repeat of the post WW2 decades of recession.
OK I'll tell you what. You go out and continue to buy everything you can at whatever cost. Even borrow the money to do it. Keep buying, buying, buying, buying, do not stop! Untill you havent the credit to continue. Then what will you do?
The last great recession was not caused by trade. It was caused by an ignorant peanut farmer and his cronies. The great depression was NOT caused by trade. It was caused by speculation on the markets by borrowing money on a whim-in other words, they bought stock at prices which were actually not worth the paper they were printed on. Sound similar? You bet! Private debt is at an all time hell bent for leather high. Public debt is the same and we are importing huge amounts compaired to what we export. So lets continue spending! What the hell, we dont need those goodies to be matched by products dollar for dollar by our exports do we? After all, we got TONS and TONS and TONS of money dont we?!
Yeah, that was one hell of a 30-year recession we had from 1940 through 1970! As the following graph shows, we ran a trade surplus during all of those years.