[Longsword]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('DantesPeak', '
')Since there is no cure for the US$’s problems, to some extent it makes sense for the central banks of the world to keep the US$ regime going. Granted the US and its almost $1 trillion yearly current account deficit is like drug addict going for ever larger fixes and getting in worse and worse shape. But no one intentionally wants to cut off the addict for fear the addict might become like a wild animal.

Possibly what other countries want for the dollar may eventually not matter anyway. The price of energy may go so high as to make the current account deficit no longer supportable by foreigners. In that doomsday scenario, the US$ has no level or natural value to which it could fall.

[MrBill]

Euric wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he rest of the world isn't willing to go on like this. If you take a hint from the article, Germany is booming and confidence is increasing because Germany has learned to find other buyers for their products and not rely on the US. Thus when the US does fall they will take no one with them.

[dukey]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')ASHINGTON - Sky-high oil prices and Americans' insatiable hunger for Chinese goods drove the US trade deficit to a record high of 763.6 billion dollars in 2006, the government said.

[neocone]

Simply means the US exchanges its status as a "superpower" and leverages its military muscle to exchange real goods for paper printed in a few locations around Washington...

Of course this process is declining faster than the slowdown of the Gulf Stream due to global warming but some inertia remains.

In fact this is the Hey Day of the process right here right now... historians will ponder on this as the peak of Empire.

[MOCKBA]

US exports break new high in 2006 as well and Boeing outsell Airbus. Imports surged too thanks to currency manipulations in Asia. 20% import levy will pretty much fix the issue. Would Democratic Congress overpower President to impose import levy on China after all? They are long overdue.

[Euric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MOCKBA', 'U')S exports break new high in 2006 as well and Boeing outsell Airbus. Imports surged too thanks to currency manipulations in Asia. 20% import levy will pretty much fix the issue. Would Democratic Congress overpower President to impose import levy on China after all? They are long overdue.

[Colorado-Valley]

Seems like all the U.S. needs to do is bring its wage structure more in line with places like China and Vietnam ...

[eXpat]

Interesting article about the cost of war here, borrowed money well expended creating anti-americanism.

[Bas]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')he fact that the US doesn't function in the metric system turns off many a prospective buyer even if America's goods are cheaper due to a falling dollar.

[MrBill]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bas', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')he fact that the US doesn't function in the metric system turns off many a prospective buyer even if America's goods are cheaper due to a falling dollar.

[MrMambo]

Goods export... hmm

I wonder how much of that 14.4% increase in exports are related to millitary purchases, and how much is related to pharma. On about everything else I don't see USA as a winner.

As far as I understand the american weapons industry is the real winner amoungst a bunch of loosers in the US manufacturing industry.

In a time of fiercer global competition and harder times the fragile intellectual property rights of the pharmasuitical industry may fall victim. I guess those who know how to produce a medisine and needs that medicine are not going to sit there and respect flimsy intellectual property rights.

China, India and greater Asia will eventually overtake the US and Europe on pharma by sheer force of the number of talented young scientists employed in R&D in that sector in those countries.

This is not the hay day of USA. Its just a country that amassed so much power and influence over the world that it can quite efficiently cling to a lot of the remains of that power on its way down.

I will say that the time when the soviet empire was brought down economically, millitary and politically to its knees after bleeding in afganistan for a long long time without any prospects of victory: that was probably the Hay Day of US power.

Also the years of totalitarian marked liberalization reforms pushed by the US led IMF and the wold bank wich gave especially the US, but also Western Europe and Japan access dirt cheep natural resources and farm produce from the third world, was a signifficant show of power.

But those power-effects are now only in their lingering phases and will probably fade away as nations starts to value their resources and starts enforcing democratic controll (instead of foreign corporate) of their national economy to a higher degree.

[MrBill]

MrMambo wrote:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'B')ut those power-effects are now only in their lingering phases and will probably fade away as nations starts to value their resources and starts enforcing democratic controll (instead of foreign corporate) of their national economy to a higher degree.

[Euric]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Bas', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 't')he fact that the US doesn't function in the metric system turns off many a prospective buyer even if America's goods are cheaper due to a falling dollar.

[oilfreeandhappy]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070510/economy.html?.v=12

Grim news again for the US Economy regarding the Trade Deficit. Even though our imports to China grew at a record pace, our trade deficit still went up.

"The trade deficit shot up in March to the highest level in six months, driven by a big jump in imported oil. The politically sensitive deficit with China shrank as U.S. exports to that country hit an all-time high...It reflected a big 17.6 percent jump in oil imports, which climbed to $24.6 billion, the highest level in six months."

Any type of decrease in American Oil Consumption will help with this deficit. It's hard to believe, with the cost of gasoline, that we continue to consume so much oil. Cycling could play a role, but I believe Mass Transit and smaller, more fuel efficient cars are the key. A smaller fleet of cars would help cycling also, leaving more room for cyclists on the road.

[Clouseau2]

Not to worry, as long as we still have hard assets foreigners can buy, they will keep accepting our monopoly money. Once we no longer have hard assets, we just declare all foreigners terrorists and seize the assets.

[DYBoulet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Clouseau2', 'N')ot to worry, as long as we still have hard assets foreigners can buy, they will keep accepting our monopoly money. Once we no longer have hard assets, we just declare all foreigners terrorists and seize the assets.

[steam_cannon]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Clouseau2', 'N')ot to worry, as long as we still have hard assets foreigners can buy, they will keep accepting our monopoly money. Once we no longer have hard assets, we just declare all foreigners terrorists and seize the assets.

[Newsseeker]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('steam_cannon', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Clouseau2', 'N')ot to worry, as long as we still have hard assets foreigners can buy, they will keep accepting our monopoly money. Once we no longer have hard assets, we just declare all foreigners terrorists and seize the assets.

[Tyler_JC]

Trade deficit declines by 6.2% in 2007.

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')WASHINGTON - Despite a soaring foreign oil bill and another record deficit with China, the overall U.S. trade deficit declined in 2007 after setting records for five consecutive years.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that the deficit dropped to $711.6 billion last year, a decline of 6.2 percent. The trade deficit with China continued to rise, jumping by 10.2 percent to $256.3 billion. That was the largest gap ever recorded with a single country, as Chinese imports surged despite a string of high-profile recalls of tainted products.

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '
')
US consumers will be worse off but the country as a whole will be more fiscally stable.