Replies

I don't care if they spend the those dollars or not. Our economy is growing as fast as it can without incurring inflation anyway. If they started to spend the dollars that they would otherwise accumulate, how would that help us?

At 5.1%, our unemployment rate is hardly worth losing sleep over. If China is taking all of our jobs, then why is the unemployment rate only 5.1%? What they are doing is they are taking the bad jobs--the low pay jobs. And most of the low pay jobs they are taking are not from Americans, but from other countries which would otherwise supply what the Chinese supply.

We don't make significant amounts of textiles in this country, and we haven't for decades. The few jobs that will be lost by allowing Chinese textiles flood our stores will be jobs which are low pay jobs, mostly held by illegal aliens. And keep in mind that there are jobs that are created by cheap Chinese textiles as well. A lot of clothing sales jobs would be lost, for example, if the cost of clothing went up because cheap Chinese clothes were no longer available.

Do you think the Chinese can force us to sell them our defense technology? I think not. Besides, they've done a very effective job of stealing it. Why pay for something you can get for free?

Our imports from China are a paper tiger. Our oil imports comprise 40% of the trade deficit. If you're worried about the trade deficit, then focus on that.

At 5.1%, our unemployment rate is hardly worth losing sleep over.

This is.
And this is just the beginning.

The relatively low U.S. unemployment based on new U.S. hires, as noted previously above in Dr. Roberts article is primarily not in exports. The non-tradable services sector jobs are accounting for the growth and, these do not add to national competitiveness in industrial trade. And your question of how we are doing it is a good one. Roberts, and others, indicate that it is because of the massive government and consumer borrowing binge. Consumer refinances borrowing against their homes in refinances, squeezing the last equity out of them, all to sustain their consumption. Often in the self-same housing sector, hence the housing bubble. (Prices inflating at 7% annually)

This represents, in macro terms, a "Dis-saving". But that can only go so far and so long.

Anyways, it is not the jobs per se that concerns me, but the loss of the U.S.'s industrial muscle. This should concern all Americans. And where is that muscle going?