Exports are Not Benefits; They are Costs
14 February 2007
Editor, The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab correctly suggests that more international trade means more exports ("Oil Prices, Imported Goods Push Trade Gap to Record," Feb. 14). But let's be clear: trade's benefits are measured by imports and not by exports. Exports are the price we pay for the goods and services that we consume from abroad. These goods and services - these imports - are the ultimate rationale for trade.
Those who doubt this truth should ask themselves if Americans would prosper if we regularly loaded ships with goods made in the USA and then sunk each of these cargo-laden ships in the middle of the ocean. Such a practice would generate a huge increase in the proportion of U.S. exports to imports, thereby giving America a substantial trade surplus. It would also impoverish us.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The Washington Post
1150 15th St., NW
Washington, DC 20071
Dear Editor:
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab correctly suggests that more international trade means more exports ("Oil Prices, Imported Goods Push Trade Gap to Record," Feb. 14). But let's be clear: trade's benefits are measured by imports and not by exports. Exports are the price we pay for the goods and services that we consume from abroad. These goods and services - these imports - are the ultimate rationale for trade.
Those who doubt this truth should ask themselves if Americans would prosper if we regularly loaded ships with goods made in the USA and then sunk each of these cargo-laden ships in the middle of the ocean. Such a practice would generate a huge increase in the proportion of U.S. exports to imports, thereby giving America a substantial trade surplus. It would also impoverish us.
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Saturday October 20, 2007 at 10:06am