Dems say "trade deficits don't matter"....lets debate that stupid position

[kyzr]

I hear on CNN & MSNBC stupid people saying that trade deficits don't matter. Maybe they are socialists in a capitalistic country, but here are a few reasons why they are wrong.
1. If I have a trade surplus, you are either giving me your money, or borrowing money to pay me.
2. If I have a trade deficit, I am borrowing money to pay someone to buy stuff.

Countries with trade surpluses can buy factories and properties in debtor countries, their currency is strong, their credit rating is strong, just the opposite for debtor countries.

IMHO it is much better to have a trade surplus than a trade deficit.

 

[Timmy]

Are people forced to buy foreign goods ?

I get it if the other country is cheating , but just cause we buy more from X doesn’t mean it’s bad . Maybe they have a product we don’t .

By the way . We export a lot of shit .

 

[kyzr]

Are people forced to buy foreign goods ?

I get it if the other country is cheating , but just cause we buy more from X doesn’t mean it’s bad . Maybe they have a product we don’t .

By the way . We export a lot of shit .

Some countries dump steel as an example, such that our steel plants become noncompetitive and close. Some countries subsidize cars to export, such that domestic car production fails. This hurts domestic manufacturing, jobs, and the tax base.

Trump deserves praise for requiring fair trade, such that the domestic economy is protected, jobs are available, and taxes are paid. Maybe the trade deficit is a symptom, but the disease is unfair trade.

 

[Timmy]

Are people forced to buy foreign goods ?

I get it if the other country is cheating , but just cause we buy more from X doesn’t mean it’s bad . Maybe they have a product we don’t .

By the way . We export a lot of shit .

Some countries dump steel as an example, such that their steel plants become noncompetitive and close. Some countries subsidize cars to export, such that domestic car production fails. This hurts domestic manufacturing, jobs, and the tax base.

Trump deserves praise for requiring fair trade, such that the domestic economy is protected, jobs are available, and taxes are paid. Maybe the trade deficit is a symptom, but the disease is unfair trade.

Thing is . We do the same .

 

[otto105]

I hear on CNN & MSNBC stupid people saying that trade deficits don't matter. Maybe they are socialists in a capitalistic country, but here are a few reasons why they are wrong.
1. If I have a trade surplus, you are either giving me your money, or borrowing money to pay me.
2. If I have a trade deficit, I am borrowing money to pay someone to buy stuff.

Countries with trade surpluses can buy factories and properties in debtor countries, their currency is strong, their credit rating is strong, just the opposite for debtor countries.

IMHO it is much better to have a trade surplus than a trade deficit.

You don't understand trade.

 

[otto105]

Are people forced to buy foreign goods ?

I get it if the other country is cheating , but just cause we buy more from X doesn’t mean it’s bad . Maybe they have a product we don’t .

By the way . We export a lot of shit .

Some countries dump steel as an example, such that their steel plants become noncompetitive and close. Some countries subsidize cars to export, such that domestic car production fails. This hurts domestic manufacturing, jobs, and the tax base.

Trump deserves praise for requiring fair trade, such that the domestic economy is protected, jobs are available, and taxes are paid. Maybe the trade deficit is a symptom, but the disease is unfair trade.

You don't understand anything that your posting about.

 

[Markle]

Are people forced to buy foreign goods ?

I get it if the other country is cheating , but just cause we buy more from X doesn’t mean it’s bad . Maybe they have a product we don’t .

By the way . We export a lot of shit .

"Are people forced to buy foreign goods?" Yes.

Next question.

 

[Timmy]

Are people forced to buy foreign goods ?

I get it if the other country is cheating , but just cause we buy more from X doesn’t mean it’s bad . Maybe they have a product we don’t .

By the way . We export a lot of shit .

"Are people forced to buy foreign goods?" Yes.

Next question.

Yes ? How so . You were forced to buy a Volkswagen?

 

[ColonelAngus]

I met Dr. Seuss’s and he signed my “Marvin K Mooney will you please go Now” book when I was like 6 years old.

 

[Markle]

Yes ? How so . You were forced to buy a Volkswagen?

Your desperation is duly noted.

My business has required that I have, in decades past, a radio car phone, Palm Pilot, then cell phones, smartphones, countless computers, laptops, printers, laser then color and laser, fax machines, expensive shoes, suits, shirts, sheets, pillowcases, and the list goes on!

 

[Timmy]

Yes ? How so . You were forced to buy a Volkswagen?

Your desperation is duly noted.

My business has required that I have, in decades past, a radio car phone, Palm Pilot, then cell phones, smartphones, countless computers, laptops, printers, laser then color and laser, fax machines, expensive shoes, suits, shirts, sheets, pillowcases, and the list goes on!

What’s your point . Did you not have American options? Sure you can’t find an American
Tv , but what about everything else .

It’s fucking rediculous to complain that the government won’t stop you from Buying foreign made goods .

 

[ColonelAngus]

What electronics are made in America?

 

[ColonelAngus]

 

[task0778]

Americans buy foreign goods with American dollars, which are then transferred to foreign account holders. The foreign account holder can only do four things with those dollars: 1) turn around and buy American goods, 2) invest them in American securities, 3) hold them in perpetuity and 4) exchange them for another currency.

The fact that a current account deficit exists demonstrates that foreigners are investing/holding more dollars than purchasing American goods. [1] Investments come back to American companies or governments in the form of capital, not consumer goods, which drives economic growth. [2] Foreigners who hold onto dollars and never use them are essentially trading real consumer goods for green pieces of paper, which is actually a net gain for American consumers. [3] Rather, the current accounts should be evaluated based on volume, not deficit or surplus.

Is a current account deficit good or bad for the economy? | Investopedia Is a current account deficit good or bad for the economy?

[1] This is one reason why Trump is trying to force foreign gov'ts to reduce their tariffs on our stuff coming into their countries. Lower tariffs imposed on our stuff makes them more competitive in terms of price, so we sell more of our stuff to others and as a result the negative trade imbalance goes down. You can bitch about his methods, maybe there's a better way but it's worth noting that no other president has found a better way of doing it.

[2] Foreign investments helps spur our economic growth. That's why Investments are a factor in determining the GDP number, and foreign investment is a part of that.

[3] If they didn't invest those dollars here and didn't buy anything with them, then that money is just lying fallow and doing nothing. I would think those dollars would be in a US bank account somewhere earning interest if nothing else, but then that is actually an investment cuz now that bank can loan that money out to a US business or person and more goods and services could then be produced.


Trade deficits in and of themselves really don't matter, it's what you do with those foreign products that really counts. If it's all consumption stuff then you really haven't increased US productivity in any way, right? But if you bought foreign materials and built and sold a product then it's a positive increase in GDP that is presumably greater than what you paid for the foreign materials. Consider this:


In terms of trade surpluses, the U.S. achieved its high-water mark in 1975. That was the last year it enjoyed a trade surplus – and a year when GDP growth was negative at -0.2%. The surplus was over $12 billion, but would anyone describe the U.S. economy at the time as something to emulate? It was a period when the nation seemed to be trapped in low economic growth, with high unemployment and inflation rates. Indeed, one of the reasons the U.S. had a trade surplus is because Americans had relatively little money to spend on foreign goods. Was the nation better off for it?

The United States isn’t the only country where trade balances do not reflect economic growth or wealth creation. If trade surpluses were a magic wand to make wealth appear, why hasn’t it done so in Angola, Ghana, Mongolia, Mozambique, or Uzbekistan, all of which enjoyed trade surpluses last year? (2016) For that matter, why has Japan’s continuing string of trade surpluses failed to lift its economy out of a 20-year-plus cycle of tepid growth and deflationary malaise? (A trend that Trump singularly failed to forecast in 1989, when he said: “Japan is sucking the blood out of us.” According to the CIA World Factbook, the U.S. achieved growth rates of 1.6, 2.6. and 2.4 percent over the past three years. Slow but steady, but they look positively dazzling compared to Japan’s GDP growth rates of 0.0, 0.5 and 0.5 percent during the same period.)

 

[deanrd]

It’s weird the way Republican say something really stupid and then say Democrats said that and so we should debate.

The thing is Democrats don’t have to make stuff up because the things that Republicans do are not only stupid but they’re really creepy.

Like stripping parents of their children.

It’s like a crime against humanity and despised internationally.

And I didn’t even have to make it up.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

I hear on CNN & MSNBC stupid people saying that trade deficits don't matter. Maybe they are socialists in a capitalistic country, but here are a few reasons why they are wrong.
1. If I have a trade surplus, you are either giving me your money, or borrowing money to pay me.
2. If I have a trade deficit, I am borrowing money to pay someone to buy stuff.

Countries with trade surpluses can buy factories and properties in debtor countries, their currency is strong, their credit rating is strong, just the opposite for debtor countries.

IMHO it is much better to have a trade surplus than a trade deficit.

What’s stupid is the thread premise; it fails as a strawman fallacy.

Democrats do not believe "trade deficits don't matter" – the notion is a ridiculous lie.

 

[BuckToothMoron]

I hear on CNN & MSNBC stupid people saying that trade deficits don't matter. Maybe they are socialists in a capitalistic country, but here are a few reasons why they are wrong.
1. If I have a trade surplus, you are either giving me your money, or borrowing money to pay me.
2. If I have a trade deficit, I am borrowing money to pay someone to buy stuff.

Countries with trade surpluses can buy factories and properties in debtor countries, their currency is strong, their credit rating is strong, just the opposite for debtor countries.

IMHO it is much better to have a trade surplus than a trade deficit.

It’s not a question with one answer for all occasions. There are many factors to be considered...current economy, growth rate, population growth, etc.

Do you want debt on an asset which is depreciating or appreciating?

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I hear on CNN & MSNBC stupid people saying that trade deficits don't matter. Maybe they are socialists in a capitalistic country, but here are a few reasons why they are wrong.
1. If I have a trade surplus, you are either giving me your money, or borrowing money to pay me.
2. If I have a trade deficit, I am borrowing money to pay someone to buy stuff.

Countries with trade surpluses can buy factories and properties in debtor countries, their currency is strong, their credit rating is strong, just the opposite for debtor countries.

IMHO it is much better to have a trade surplus than a trade deficit.

You have a trade deficit with your local grocery store. Explain how that is a bad thing.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Yes ? How so . You were forced to buy a Volkswagen?

Your desperation is duly noted.

My business has required that I have, in decades past, a radio car phone, Palm Pilot, then cell phones, smartphones, countless computers, laptops, printers, laser then color and laser, fax machines, expensive shoes, suits, shirts, sheets, pillowcases, and the list goes on!

What’s your point . Did you not have American options? Sure you can’t find an American
Tv , but what about everything else .

It’s fucking rediculous to complain that the government won’t stop you from Buying foreign made goods .

Sure you can buy a TV made in America.

List of Televisions That Are Made in America | Techwalla.com

 

[kyzr]

It’s weird the way Republican say something really stupid and then say Democrats said that and so we should debate.

The thing is Democrats don’t have to make stuff up because the things that Republicans do are not only stupid but they’re really creepy.

Like stripping parents of their children.

It’s like a crime against humanity and despised internationally.

And I didn’t even have to make it up.

Yes you made it up. The Court required it, it was not a GOP policy:
Who’s Responsible for Separating Alien Kids From Their Parents? Many People, but Not Trump