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| Trade is good if You are a strong player - Like the US was for manufactured goods in the 1930's-1950's. Compared to anyone else We had;
1. vast natural resources
2. superior technology
3. adequately educated and motivated workers
4. manufacturing friendly goverment.
I don't know the exact numbers offhand, but I think we exported 2 times as much as we imported. More consumption equaled more wealth because everything was made "here".
Today;
1. still a lot left, but we import significant amounts, whats left should be used wisely
2. thanks to the internet, pretty level field
3. liberally educated, much more entitlement oriented
4. so-so
I guess our exports run about 1/2 of our imports. More consumption here equals more wealth for someone in China, Mexico, Iraq, India, Japan,etc.
Individually as capitalists, we buy from the lowest cost producer - however when You look at the country as a whole, there are significant costs to unemploying great numbers of manufacturing and service sector workers/voters with overseas labor. More or less the unemployment benefits create defecit spending and a defered tax bill for anyone still working.
I remember most of the 80's and 90's and early 00's crop agriculture was on the "getting end" of the goverment checks. It's better to be on the "giving end", but that hurts too.
Corn ethanol has been good to us, it will be interesting to see how grass ethanol turns out. | |
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The Frog in the pot Economy.
