Unraveling the Mysteries of Economics

Ever wonder who decided a trade imbalance is a bad thing, and why? Ever wonder why no one even tries to explain why a trade imbalance is bad? Did it ever seem funny that we had a 20+ year trade imbalance but were still by far the world's dominant economy? This article explains why that may be so, and that the 'trade imbalance' doesn't mean what we've been told it does.

"These data from the Great Depression suggest that trade surpluses neither help an economy nor are evidence that an economy's fundamentals are sound. Quite the opposite, in fact. As long as the U.S. economy remains in turmoil, foreign investors will be scared away, as they were during the Great Depression -- causing our trade deficit to shrink and possibly even to disappear. Americans will be all the poorer."
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/boudreaux/s_635889.html

I think we should be glad to be able to hire anyone for less/hour, whether or not they live in the same nation I/you live in.

I think we should recognize the cognitive dissonance between 'buy American', the 'trade imbalance' and what it implies, protectionism, the goals of the politically active and extreme environmentalists - and the stated goal, and the desire of most Americans, for third world nations to escape their economic helplessness. These issues are all joined at the hip and the desire to ensure that only Americans get jobs is in direct conflict with all the good outcomes we desire for, say, African nations. The dialogue on these topics is downright schizophrenic.