The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total January exports of $167.7 billion and imports of $214.1 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $46.3 billion, up from $40.3 billion in December, revised. January exports were $4.4 billion more than December exports of $163.3 billion. January imports were $10.5 billion more than December imports of $203.6 billion.How much longer can this continue?
Read the Press Release here. Then ponder if the Budget Deficit is masking a larger and longer lasting problem with regard to our balance of payments.
Frankly, this makes me ask if we should be raising Federal taxes as a way of discouraging imports. The problem is, the money would not be used to pay down the national debt, but rather to create new Federal programs. I just lack the faith I should have in the ability of the US Congress and the bureaucrats they enable to get us out of this problem. I am hoping that this Session of Congress will prove me wrong.
And, at the bottom of the BEA report is this entry, which raises a couple of questions:
I wonder how the Brits and the Greeks feel about those changes? And, is Germany no longer a Federal Republic?Changes to Country Names and Groupings
Country Names
Effective with this release, the U.S. Census Bureau has altered the country names used in certain exhibits of the FT900. These changes will bring the names used in the FT900 and related data products closer in line with names used by the U.S. Department of State and the International Organization for Standardization. The changes are as follows:
Previous Name / New Name
Falkland Islands / Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)
Federal Republic of Germany / Germany
Bosnia-Hercegovina / Bosnia and Herzegovina
Macedonia (Skopje) / Macedonia
Regards — Cliff
Sadly, the trade imbalance will continue to worsen as there is very little that we possess to increase exports. We have become a consumer nation, fat and lethargic on our past successes. Other countries, out of hunger and other economic necessity, have filled the vacuum that nature abhors. On ABC the other day, Amanpour discussed our ability to compete on the world market with a panel of "experts." Conclusion, we simply can't compete in the OEM markets of anything. We buy cheap Chinese steel full of contaminants because we closed out steel mills long ago after the unions made production economically unviable. Cars, the same, Computers, the same. Airplanes, the same. We occupy some niches as "integrators" or "final assemblers" which is what Toyota and Honda are doing in the south.
ReplyDeleteUntil and unless this country returns to a free market capitalist mentality, we are doomed to loose even more jobs as labor costs become less and less in other climes and locations on the planet.
As for raising taxes, the primary reason for raising taxes by Obama and his ilk is to fundamentally transform the society to one completely controlled by the government. When you no longer own the products of your labor, you are no longer free and have become totally dependent on the good grace of the central government..who will make all the choices for you....cradle to grave.
We are only ONE Presidential election away from becoming the USSA.