is some of its most ignorant overall rhetoric -- and that is saying something. I still hope that that there are at least some in the administration who know the absurdity of what they are saying, but it panders so well to some voters that they keep it up for this reason alone. But who knows.

Higher trade deficits are historically linked with evidence of bustling overall economic activity -- including positives such as increased domestic manufacturing (since so many of our imports are used as inputs here for additional manufacturing), tighter labor markets, high activity in service sectors (which aren't measured in trade numbers), etc... However, this administration clings to perverted notions of trade that whip up more populist sentiment that damages us in the long term (2020 should be fun) and works directly against some of the positives off which it could be building better economic and foreign relations bridges. I always enjoy linking the Scrooge McDuck article.


[Post edited by fishhoo at 03/06/2019 10:00AM]