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To: dennisw
Running 400-700 billion dollar trade deficits are not how a nation becomes wealthy unless you think charging (on your credit card) all kinds of things you can't pay for is intelligent

Geez, I just checked, and I have a huge trade deficit with Whole Foods Market. Last year I bought over $5K worth of food from them, but, as far as I know, they haven't bought a dime's worth of stuff from me. Do you think I need credit counseling?

Oh, and then there's Kohls.com. They haven't bought anything from me either. But they did send me a piece of plastic that has a bar code and the words "Most Valued Customer" on it, all because I bought over $600 worth of stuff from them last year. Looks like I'm a trade deficit junky!

The truth is, trade deficits don't matter.

Because of international trade, I'm able to buy out of season cherries imported from Chile by Whole Foods. And I'm able to buy cheap clothes imported from China and India by Kohl's. Because of international trade, the money I get from people who do buy from me buys more stuff for me. And it's stuff, not dollars, that ultimately fills my stomach and keeps me warm.

Of course, those cherries might have displaced strawberries from California, but that's just how the cookie crumbles. Let those California farmers grow something I like better than cherries! After all, I'm the consumer, and the world revolves around me!

66 posted on 09/13/2010 2:29:58 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: cynwoody
Geez, I just checked, and I have a huge trade deficit with Whole Foods Market. Last year I bought over $5K worth of food from them, but, as far as I know, they haven't bought a dime's worth of stuff from me. Do you think I need credit counseling?

Oh, and then there's Kohls.com. They haven't bought anything from me either. But they did send me a piece of plastic that has a bar code and the words "Most Valued Customer" on it, all because I bought over $600 worth of stuff from them last year. Looks like I'm a trade deficit junky!

Same here, however I also have a trade surplus I run with my employer that covers all of my trade deficits. I know some people who didn't worry about that little detail, but all they had to do was keep tapping the equity in their house. Of course, now the don't own their house anymore, they've filed for bankruptcy and divorce.
71 posted on 09/13/2010 7:39:49 PM PDT by fallujah-nuker (God bless America; God d**n Jeremiah Wright)
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