[Alberta's Child]

1992 was the last year the U.S. had a trade surplus with Mexico. In that year, the U.S. exported $40.5 billion worth of products, and raw materials to Mexico, and imported $35 billion from them.

In 2017, U.S. exports to Mexico were $243 billion, and imports from Mexico were $314 billion -- for a trade deficit of about $71 billion.

There are plenty of smart people here on FreeRepublic, and in all the times I've been posting numbers like this I have yet to hear from a single one of them who can make an objective case that the U.S. was better off in 1992 than in 2017 on the basis of these figures alone.

[Will88]

I have yet to hear from a single one of them who can make an objective case that the U.S. was better off in 1992 than in 2017 on the basis of these figures alone.

Maybe you need to dig deeper. Articles have been posted here is the past year or so that now in 20% of US families, no one has a job. Another story posted about how 20% of US heads of household are on one or more government anti-poverty programs.

Our real unemployment rate, including the able bodied of working age on various poverty programs, is near 20%. We now spend more than $1 trillion per year on those programs with about $800 billion at the federal level.

You could also check what has happened to the national debt. Hint: we are not paying for all those poverty programs as we go. Our current society is being propped up with our growing Mount Everest of debt.

And all those trends and other negative trends have been on the upswing since 1992 and before. We are seeing some decrease in some poverty programs under Trump with his rejection of these policies you seem so satisfied with.