The balance of trade is important because trade is how our country makes a living as a country. This huge continuing deficit matters, because it is literally draining money and jobs (and factories and industries) from our economy.
For more than a generation the U.S. has been testing a self-destructive theory whereby we export enormous amounts of American capital, priceless technology and millions of jobs to other nations naively expecting them to reciprocate.
Economics 101, Europe's austerity experiment and the experience of history all tell us that cutting government is contractionary policy. This is the time to invest, and the investment returns will pay for the investment and more.
In their latest book, The Betrayal of the American Dream, Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele present a compelling case that America's middle class is in danger of extinction unless our government reverses course on major policies it has pursued over the last four decades.
Yet another report is out showing how the trade deficit is costing us millions of jobs and hurting our economy. This is a real problem that is hurting people, hurting communities, hurting our tax base and hurting our ability to make a living in the future.
We are at a cross roads in our country. We must change our tax, trade, and regulatory policies to rebuild our manufacturing industry to increase the number of taxpayers if we ever want to pay down our national debt, reduce our unemployment rates, and avoid economic collapse.
The United States' trade policy is left over from the 20th century. We are utilizing the same policy and fighting the same battles we did in 1985. But it's not 1985 anymore and the world has changed dramatically. We need a trade policy for the 21st century.
Right now, a lot of attention is being paid to the federal deficit. But it's high time attention got paid to our other deficit.
If America goes over the Fiscal Cliff, we will find Wal-Mart waiting or us at the bottom with a check-out register.
When I was in graduate school at the University of Michigan, I got to work with the "Michigan Model," a statistical model of the U.S. economy that had gained national recognition for its accuracy and simulation capabilities.
In an election dominated by the urgent agenda of U.S. job creation, it is a sorry statement about the domination of corporate money in American elections that both presidential candidates tout NAFTA-style "free trade" deals.
The growing U.S. trade deficit with China has displaced millions of jobs in the United States and contributed heavily to the crisis in U.S. manufacturing employment.
For years, China deliberately diminished the value its currency. This artificially reduces the price of Chinese exports. Simultaneously, it artificially raises the price of U.S. exports to China. Dithering by the U.S. House of Representatives on this issue has reduced America to victim status.
After the Commerce Department announced tariffs of more than 31 percent against solar panel manufacturers in China for dumping their products on our shores, the debate over the costs of the move for U.S. industries and the fight against global warming has been heating up.
Politicians insisted that identifying slimed beef is not necessary, or even wise, because the fabricated-sans-fat-smashed-meat-scraps-seasoned-with-ammonia mixture is more nutritious. They chose to champion not consumers but slime producers. The reason is obvious.
U.S. trade policy needs to be based on what is good for the U.S. economy and U.S. job growth. And Congress needs to recognize that in an ever more globalized world, using trade as a political instrument to fight yesterday's wars is at best self defeating.
The United States continues to be at the forefront in innovation, but this likely will not always be the case. It is worth asking whether we should care.
Corruption perceptions indices suggest that China is not especially corrupt for its level of development and actually does better than many more developed countries, including Russia, Argentina, and Mexico.
Although conservative candidates revel in ridiculing Western Europe, America could learn crucial economic lessons from Germany, which maintains trade surpluses, including one with China in auto parts.
In his State of the Union Address last week, President Obama announced a renewed commitment to manufacturing in the United States. While the commitment to rebuilding the country's manufacturing base is welcome, he unfortunately left the most important item on the list off the agenda. President Obama failed to commit himself to restoring the competitiveness of dollar as part of his agenda for bringing back manufacturing jobs. The value of the dollar really has to be front and central in any effort to restore U.S. competitiveness since it is by far the most important factor determining the relative cost of U.S. goods compared with goods produced elsewhere.
The failure of our manufacturing sector, resulting from the failure of our manufacturing policies, needs to be one of the main focuses of the upcoming presidential election. There are few problems as serious for the future of our country.
The debate over China is often buried in confusion, leading to a situation that is not conducive to effective action. A major reason for this confusion is that there is not a common U.S. interest against China.
A huge part of the reason we can't get out of this unemployment slump is the trade deficit. We don't buy American and neither do our "trade partners....
Did U.S. employment growth slow in the 2000s due to an acceleration in Chinese imports after their entry into the WTO in 2001?
Mitt Romney has made tough statements about dealing with China which, if sincere, would not only put him beyond the other major Republican candidates on trade, but also far beyond what the Obama administration is doing.
