More Deficient Reporting
18 February 2007
Editor, The Washington Times
To the Editor:
Shame on you for joining with demagogues to stir up anxiety about America's trade deficit with individual countries such as China and Japan ("Trade deficit realities," Feb. 18). These "deficits" are completely normal; it would be freakish in the extreme if the U.S. had "balanced" trade with each of its trading partners.
Consider that most customers of your newspaper have permanent and growing trade deficits with you: they buy more from you than you buy from them. Do you advise your customers to stew in fear about this situation? Do you recommend that they avoid trading with you unless and until you promise to buy annually as much from each of them as each of them buys from you? If not, why in the name of Adam Smith do you worry that Americans import more from China and Japan than we export to those countries?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Editor, The Washington Times
To the Editor:
Shame on you for joining with demagogues to stir up anxiety about America's trade deficit with individual countries such as China and Japan ("Trade deficit realities," Feb. 18). These "deficits" are completely normal; it would be freakish in the extreme if the U.S. had "balanced" trade with each of its trading partners.
Consider that most customers of your newspaper have permanent and growing trade deficits with you: they buy more from you than you buy from them. Do you advise your customers to stew in fear about this situation? Do you recommend that they avoid trading with you unless and until you promise to buy annually as much from each of them as each of them buys from you? If not, why in the name of Adam Smith do you worry that Americans import more from China and Japan than we export to those countries?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University
Posted by Don Boudreaux on
Sunday October 21, 2007 at 10:58am