April  •  May 2005 • Vol. XXIII No. 4 • An Arnold Publication

From the Editor—

Is anybody worried about the trade deficit?
 

For instance, he points out that as a nation we are consuming and investing about 6% more than we are producing. This is 6% of a a 1.5 trillion dollar economy, which, as one politician has said, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.” Well, by my calculation that 6% adds up to real money.

Volker says, that, in spite of positive growth in our economy and in Japan’s, India’s and China’s, there are what he calls “imbalances, disequilibra, risks” floating just beneath the surface. One of the most dangerous seems to be the continuing trade deficits, fueled by unfair trade practices and the desire to buy cheap and sell high by a lot of American companies rushing offshore with their production.

What has bothered me all along, and apparently bothers Volker, too, is that our politicians don’t seem to be inclined to even talk about the situation, much less do anything about it.

As I’ve mentioned before in this column, it is a good thing that our politicians are trying to find a solution to the social security problem before it breaks the bank. However, as troublesome as that one is, in my view the massive trade deficit is even greater. As a nation, we’re living on money borrowed from Japan, India, China and others to finance that deficit, and in my view, that puts us on a pretty slippery slope.
It is this editor’s opinion that the time is long overdue for the powers in Washington to get off their duffs and do something about the situation. And, there are a lot of things they can do.

They can discourage the flood of work going offshore by not making it so easy for companies to use slave labor to produce products and then bring them here duty free to sell at high

profits. Not only will this help the deficit, it can bring work back home where it belongs. They also can do the unspeakable thing of chiseling down massive government spending.

But what can we “mere” citizens do about the situation? Why even bother to talk about it?

Simple. We can call our congressmen and our senators and let them know we want action. . .now, not later.

After all, if you believe them, they still listen to the voters.
                                                                                                   C. H. Bush, editor