It's true that Pat Buchanan is lacking in credibility, but that doesn't mean trade deficits and consumption debt are good things. The United States is losing its manufacturing base. Even weapons and military parts are made overseas, and the countries producing them are not necessarily friendly to the United States.
Bump!
No, but let's keep things in perspective. The last trade surplus we had was during a recession. The best way for us to achieve another trade surplus is to have a recession. Japan and Germany regularly run trade surpluses. Would you prefer Japan's deflation and no growth economy or Germany's 12% unemployment and no growth economy?
Consumption debt may be up but it's because we're worth more now, make more now and tend to borrow more when interest rates are low. Our debt to asset ratio was very low when Carter gave us 18% interest rates. Home ownership being at an all time high (69.1%) will also contribute to an increased debt load. All that notwithstanding, our household net worth is more than $51 trillion now which is more than double what it was in 1994.
The United States is losing its manufacturing base.
Yet, we manufacture and export more now than at any other time. We manufactured $3 trillion in goods last year which is more than every other countries total GDP except Japan!