[mlo]

So what? Do they bury the green pieces of paper in the ground? That's a great deal for us!

Seriously, if the Chinese make goods cheaper for Americans, that makes the American buyers of those goods richer. Getting more for your money is the same as having more money. Everyone forgets about that side of the equation when talking about trade. The author is correct, a trade deficit is not a loss.

[central_va]

Seriously, if the Chinese make goods cheaper for Americans, that makes the American buyers of those goods richer. Getting more for your money is the same as having more money

Only a complete dumba$$ thinks the cost reductions of using coolie labor is passed on the consumer.

[Oatka]

. . . if the Chinese make goods cheaper for Americans, that makes the American buyers of those goods richer.

IF those Americans have decent paying jobs that result in surplus funds to buy those goods. Since many/most of the high-paying blue collar jobs went out of country, it's gonna be hard to do more than eke out a living on subsistence wages.

[slowhandluke]

Getting more for your money is great, but sometimes only in the short run. If China ends up making everything, and we make nothing, what money are you going to have?

The process has been for them to take those pieces of green paper and buy US companies, US technology (when they don't just steal it), and then undercut and kill the rest of the US competitors.

The economists think price wars are great, mostly. But the US gov't and laws do note that international price wars can be predatory, when the foreign government subsidizes some product in order to undercut and destroy their US competitors.

A trade deficit is a loss, eventually. On a gold standard, it means you run out of gold. On a paper standard, it means the value of the paper gets driven to zero.

[aquila48]

Not only that but all those green pieces of paper have to eventually be spent here in the US.

Houses, vacations, companies, commercial real estate, stocks and bonds are being bought by Chinese thus helping those sectors of our economy.

Even Trump himself benefits from it when he brags about how many Chinese are buying his multi million dollars condos!

[Boogieman]

” Everyone forgets about that side of the equation when talking about trade.”

Because the populists never care about the big picture, or the economy as a whole. They only care about THEIR little piece of the pie. They lost a factory job 20 years ago or something and that’s all they will ever care about.

[usurper]

Seriously, if the Chinese make goods cheaper for Americans, that makes the American buyers of those goods richer.

I am sure the 90 million unemployed Americans feel richer through your incite.

[SgtHooper]

If you think the effects of trade ends with the simple exchange of products, you are mistaken.