[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('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.

[Tyler_JC]

Equally distributing the resources/wealth forcibly is communism.

Unless you can convince the better half to work harder in order to subsidize the lesser half...I don't think it's going to work.

It's fine for a small village of engaged citizens to attempt Communism. But it doesn't work very well on the larger scale. Human corruption gets in the way.

[LoneSnark]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')oneSnark has an interesting concept there. Jailing people for refusing to help people in need, I like it.

[MrBill]

joewp wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')irst, fix the money system so money isn't created by debt (I seem to recall you're not convinced of this, but it remains a fact), that would help to remove the impetus to constant growth (which is impossible in a finite environment).

[Tyler_JC]

Top 1% of income earners pay 27.6% of federal taxes and 38.8% of income taxes

In 1979, the bottom 80 percent of households paid a collective 43.5 percent of federal taxes compared to a 15 percent share borne by the wealthiest households. Interestingly, the top marginal tax rate in 1979 was 70 percent, twice what it is today.



Just to throw out some data...

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'E')qually distributing the resources/wealth forcibly is communism.

Unless you can convince the better half to work harder in order to subsidize the lesser half...I don't think it's going to work.

It's fine for a small village of engaged citizens to attempt Communism. But it doesn't work very well on the larger scale. Human corruption gets in the way.

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('LoneSnark', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'L')oneSnark has an interesting concept there. Jailing people for refusing to help people in need, I like it.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joewp', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'E')qually distributing the resources/wealth forcibly is communism.

Unless you can convince the better half to work harder in order to subsidize the lesser half...I don't think it's going to work.

It's fine for a small village of engaged citizens to attempt Communism. But it doesn't work very well on the larger scale. Human corruption gets in the way.

[SteinarN]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'E')qually distributing the resources/wealth forcibly is communism.

Unless you can convince the better half to work harder in order to subsidize the lesser half...I don't think it's going to work.

It's fine for a small village of engaged citizens to attempt Communism. But it doesn't work very well on the larger scale. Human corruption gets in the way.

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('MrBill', 'j')oewp wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'F')irst, fix the money system so money isn't created by debt (I seem to recall you're not convinced of this, but it remains a fact), that would help to remove the impetus to constant growth (which is impossible in a finite environment).

[joewp]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('joewp', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Tyler_JC', 'E')qually distributing the resources/wealth forcibly is communism.

Unless you can convince the better half to work harder in order to subsidize the lesser half...I don't think it's going to work.

It's fine for a small village of engaged citizens to attempt Communism. But it doesn't work very well on the larger scale. Human corruption gets in the way.

[Stratovarius]

I'm looking for a better understanding of how trade deficits effect a country, particularly the U.S.

I'm reading Mindful Economics (best book I've read in a while...) and in the chapter America's Umbilical Cord (aka the international economy), he writes:

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he U.S. has essentially two choices when it incurs trade deficits: it can pay the deficit amount by depleting its foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank, the Federal Reserve System, or borrow from abroad. ... This is the preferred option [selling govt. bonds], although it can hold a financial crisis at a distance; it has long-term cumulative effects. Each year the U.S. experiences trade deficits, it goes deeper into debt, and it becomes more financially dependent on foreign countries.

[misterno]

As long as China buys all US Treasury Bonds like they have been doing for the last 20 years, we are fine.

[Stratovarius]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'A')s long as China buys all US Treasury Bonds like they have been doing for the last 20 years, we are fine.

[mattduke]

As gold flows out of a country in deficit, there is less and less money in that country, and prices begin to fall there, until local prices are competitive with foreign prices, and trade becomes balanced again. But what if a country had an endless supply of gold to export? It could begin to import everything it wanted, and convert it's factories into golf courses. And then one day the trading partners realize that the unlimited amount of dollars actually makes them worthless, and the stop wanting them. And then they stop exporting to that country. And then the country finds itself with plenty of golf courses, but no means to produce shoes, nor means to pay to have shoes imported.

[misterno]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Stratovarius', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'A')s long as China buys all US Treasury Bonds like they have been doing for the last 20 years, we are fine.

[Tyler_JC]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Stratovarius', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('misterno', 'A')s long as China buys all US Treasury Bonds like they have been doing for the last 20 years, we are fine.

[errorist]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')On Wednesday, the Bush administration criticized China for slowing the pace at which its currency was rising in value against the dollar, but announced that it had decided not to cite China as a currency manipulator. A citation would have triggered negotiations between the two nations.

[Sixstrings]

The CIA World Factbook has an interesting list entitled "Rank Order - Current account balance." The list ranks 188 nations by their balance of payments. These balance of payments amount to an aggregate of trade surplus / debt for goods and services.

The nations at the top of the list are creditor nations, those lower down are debtor nations.

As you might guess, China is the richest nation on Earth as far as current account balance: $371.8 billion. Here's the other top four:

2 Germany $ 254,500,000,000
3 Japan $ 210,500,000,000
4 Saudi Arabia $ 86,620,000,000
5 Russia $ 78,310,000,000

In the 188-long list of nations, the debtor nations begin at #68 (Guinea-Bissau, -6 million trade deficit). The second largest debtor nation in the world is Spain, at $145.3 billion deficit. The US is at the bottom of the rank order, coming in at $731.2 billion. Interestingly, this figure is slightly greater than all other debtor nation deficits *combined*.

Who knows for certain what the future holds for creditor and debtors, exporters and importers. But looking at this list, one has to realize nations like Germany have done something right post WWII -- a whopping $254 bil surplus, compared to our $731.2 deficit. They've somehow managed that *and* universal health care and social safety nets.

Even France is 4 times better off than the UK, a similar sized population.

What do you guys think? These rankings mean anything in the big scheme of things?

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... 7rank.html

[CarlosFerreira]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Sixstrings', 'T')he CIA World Factbook has an interesting list entitled "Rank Order - Current account balance." The list ranks 188 nations by their balance of payments. These balance of payments amount to an aggregate of trade surplus / debt for goods and services.

The nations at the top of the list are creditor nations, those lower down are debtor nations.

As you might guess, China is the richest nation on Earth as far as current account balance: $371.8 billion. Here's the other top four:

2 Germany $ 254,500,000,000
3 Japan $ 210,500,000,000
4 Saudi Arabia $ 86,620,000,000
5 Russia $ 78,310,000,000

In the 188-long list of nations, the debtor nations begin at #68 (Guinea-Bissau, -6 million trade deficit). The second largest debtor nation in the world is Spain, at $145.3 billion deficit. The US is at the bottom of the rank order, coming in at $731.2 billion. Interestingly, this figure is slightly greater than all other debtor nation deficits *combined*.

Who knows for certain what the future holds for creditor and debtors, exporters and importers. But looking at this list, one has to realize nations like Germany have done something right post WWII -- a whopping $254 bil surplus, compared to our $731.2 deficit. They've somehow managed that *and* universal health care and social safety nets.

Even France is 4 times better off than the UK, a similar sized population.

What do you guys think? These rankings mean anything in the big scheme of things?

https://www.cia.gov/library/publication ... 7rank.html