Output last year topped $1.84 trillion, 8% higher than the pre-recession peak

[rdean]

Surprise! American Manufacturing is Rebounding |

In theory, the trade part should be easier. Exports have surged in the past two years. In fact, they are on track to meet President Obama’s goal of doubling in five years, something that was dismissed in 2010 as political happy talk.

Making matters worse, some fiscal conservatives have tried to kill the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a heretofore non-controversial finance agency that facilitates exports. Its future was held in doubt for months as a May 31 deadline approached, prompting some foreign companies to wonder whether they should commit to buying American and risk losing their financing. Export-Import’s reauthorization finally passed out of Congress on Tuesday.

On the education front, solutions include more support for community colleges, vocational schools and public-private partnerships for on-the-job training.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is why we need to support education and infrastructure. Hear that Republicans. You can't have it both ways. Refusing to support education and the rebuilding of America and then asking "where are the jobs"?

 

[Leweman]

So more a competitive wage scale is helping spurn this growth aye? Unions must be pissed.

 

[likeabird03]

Exports are increasing, this is a very positive thing. Unfortunately imports are growing faster - as illustrated by our trade deficit that has DOUBLED since obama took office.

Doubling exports isn't doing us much good if we're tripling imports.

 

[rdean]

So more a competitive wage scale is helping spurn this growth aye? Unions must be pissed.

Prosperity though lower wages?

 

[Mr. H.]

Would those surging export figures include the refined motor fuels that libwhacks are belly achin' about?

 

[Mr. H.]

rdean, since this is your thread- could you quantify the contribution of refined motor fuels exports as they pertain to your previously mentioned "surge"?

Links would be appreciated.

And what contribution does this make to Obama's goal of doubling exports?

Please inlude the recent runup in domestic gasoline prices.

Thanking you in advance.

 

[rdean]

rdean, since this is your thread- could you quantify the contribution of refined motor fuels exports as they pertain to your previously mentioned "surge"?

Links would be appreciated.

And what contribution does this make to Obama's goal of doubling exports?

Please inlude the recent runup in domestic gasoline prices.

Thanking you in advance.

What are you asking for? A link that shows the number one export in the US is gasoline? Everyone already knows that. It's called the "Free Market".

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

In fact, they are on track to meet President Obama’s goal of doubling in five years, something that was dismissed in 2010 as political happy talk.

an interesting and useless factoid when as Krugman says, we are
in a depression!!!

 

[Mr. H.]

rdean, since this is your thread- could you quantify the contribution of refined motor fuels exports as they pertain to your previously mentioned "surge"?

Links would be appreciated.

And what contribution does this make to Obama's goal of doubling exports?

Please inlude the recent runup in domestic gasoline prices.

Thanking you in advance.

What are you asking for? A link that shows the number one export in the US is gasoline? Everyone already knows that. It's called the "Free Market".

I was quite clear with my request. If you want to brag on the increase in exports under Obama then I'd like to see you brag about the success of the U.S. oil industry's contribution.

 

[Mr. H.]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBuP2bigS0U]Vapor Lock (Part 1) - An Introduction - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Nova78]

So more a competitive wage scale is helping spurn this growth aye? Unions must be pissed.

Prosperity though lower wages?

Yea, I thought the same , must be another Obama ball licker....

 

[itfitzme]

Exports are increasing, this is a very positive thing. Unfortunately imports are growing faster - as illustrated by our trade deficit that has DOUBLED since obama took office.

Doubling exports isn't doing us much good if we're tripling imports.

What is your plan here, skipper? Make laws that determine what the US consumer can and cannot purchase?

Since when did we want Congress to tell the consumer what they can purchase or businesses what they can buy and sell?

Really, except that imports flow in the opposite direction of exports, what is your point?

That the trade deficit is rising is a positive indicator. It has always fallen, (since '72) at the onset and into a recession, rising again when the economy rebounds.

What is unfortunate about imports rising?

 

[itfitzme]

So more a competitive wage scale is helping spurn this growth aye? Unions must be pissed.

Why, what did they say? Oh, I get it, your imagining. Be careful, if someone hits your upside the back of the head while your imagining, you might get stuck that way.

I haven't heard anything from any of these.

United Auto Workers - UAW
Oil, Chemical & Atomic Workers Union - OCAWIU
Air Line Pilots Association - ALPA
California Nurses Association/ National Nurses Organizing Committee - CNA/NNOC
California School Employees Association - CSEA
Fraternal Order of Police - FOP
Major League Baseball Players Association - MLB
NHL Players Association - NHLPA
US Airline Pilots Association - UA APA
National Association of Letter Carriers - NALC
National Football League Players Association - NFLPA
National Association of Grandmothers - NAG
International Association of Fire Fighters - IAFF

Wiki's got a great list of unions List of trade unions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Perhaps you might check their sites to see if any appear pissed.

Don't you believe that American's have the right to peaceful assembly and to act as group for their mutual benefit?

You don't like firemen? Baseball? How about apple pie?

What's your plan here, that Congress should pass laws that restrict individual freedom?

Seems all unamerican to me, not liking unions.

 

[itfitzme]

On the education front, solutions include more support for community colleges, vocational schools and public-private partnerships for on-the-job training.

This one is pretty significant. Education has become more and more specialized and necessary. Education is common to both individuals and to businesses.

Some major corporations do support universities, but it seems that the support can be too targeted towards the companies that can afford to. They create a university program that is more a pool of future graduates specifically for them rather then a pool of graduates that are prepared to the market as a whole.

The smaller Devry and other technical schools have done a lot but suffer from the over competitiveness problem that isn't always good for the students. It's the same principle as the mortgage market suffered in the years leading up to the crash. The problem is, a bubble isn't a bubble until after it's burst. If it was predictable, everyone would be predicting it. An instance of one or two people predicting cannot be distinguished from luck.

If we expect to have a nation of technically skilled workers, an efficient and booming economy, education could use some national coordination and support. And education takes time. An individual gets only one shot at it, one shot at the goal. And if to many people miss, we have a bunch of mis-match. That can't be good for the nation. It's just not efficient.

I think the EDD could do a better job coordinating things. They are, after all, the Employment Development Department. But in all my experience, they never seems all that innovative. The tie in, in my mind, is that the EDD for each state does have detailed data on job demand. That, of course, can match to education demand.

Clearly, there is a demand for phlebotomy. And there are schools that train phlebotomy with students enrolled. What often happens is that the information is delayed. At some point, the rate of jobs for phlebotomy begins to decelerate while enrollment continues to accelerate.

The trick, for education/job matching efficiency sake, would be just present the data that shows how closely current enrollment in programs is matched to current job demand. We know the data is out there, but how well is it presented and how well are we aware of it seems a bit lacking.

That is really part of the issue, isn't it, an inefficiency in the information that creates some error. We can't predict the future but at least we can tell how fast we are going and if things are accelerating or decelerating. That's the least we can do for info.

 

[Norman]

Surprise! American Manufacturing is Rebounding |

In theory, the trade part should be easier. Exports have surged in the past two years. In fact, they are on track to meet President Obama’s goal of doubling in five years, something that was dismissed in 2010 as political happy talk.

Making matters worse, some fiscal conservatives have tried to kill the Export-Import Bank of the United States, a heretofore non-controversial finance agency that facilitates exports. Its future was held in doubt for months as a May 31 deadline approached, prompting some foreign companies to wonder whether they should commit to buying American and risk losing their financing. Export-Import’s reauthorization finally passed out of Congress on Tuesday.

On the education front, solutions include more support for community colleges, vocational schools and public-private partnerships for on-the-job training.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is why we need to support education and infrastructure. Hear that Republicans. You can't have it both ways. Refusing to support education and the rebuilding of America and then asking "where are the jobs"?

Great, but we should probably be focusing on the trade deficit, instead of one part of the equation.

Wasn't it at a record high just recently?

 

[sparky]

all the atricle really tells us is that the globalists desire to dominate the world labor pool is winning......~S~

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

Surprise! American Manufacturing is Rebounding |

-------------------------------------------------------------------

surprise! Krugman is all over TV saying we are in a depression and even has a new book about it! Thank you Mr. Krugman.

 

[itfitzme]

Surprise! American Manufacturing is Rebounding |

-------------------------------------------------------------------

surprise! Krugman is all over TV saying we are in a depression and even has a new book about it! Thank you Mr. Krugman.

Surprise, the economy rebounding means were are beginning to recover from the depression that we are in. See, that is how it works.

While there is no technical or official definition of a depression, we can take it to be a seriously deep and lengthened period of time in which the economy is in the trough of a business cycle. A recession is declining GDP, two or more successive quarters. A depression is the period of time after the recession ends, when labor is underutilized, unemployment is high, and output remains depressed.

In order to leave the trough of the business cycle, the depression, business must first begin to rebound.

There is nothing inconsistent with manufacturing rebounding and the economy still being in a depression. Indeed, the economy can rebound for a while before we may consider the "depression" to have ended.

 

[itfitzme]

Exports are increasing, this is a very positive thing. Unfortunately imports are growing faster - as illustrated by our trade deficit that has DOUBLED since obama took office.

Doubling exports isn't doing us much good if we're tripling imports.

In order to even begin to understand net imports, the meaning of real dollar value and the contstantly increasing population must be understood.

In dollar terms, everything increases. Alone, an increase in the nominal dollar value of imports or net imports is meaningless because the price of everything increases. The only meaningful conversation is about the inflation adjusted real dollar values.

Every year, population increases. And with that increase, everything else increases. More absolute money is spent on imports simply because more people are purchasing imports. The only meaningfull conversation is about per capita consumption.

This should be pretty clear. It should not need explaining that inflation is about 2.5% a year. An import costing $1 this year will cost $1.025 next year. $1,000,000,000 in imports this year will be $1,025,000,000 next year. A $25,000,000 increase in imports means nothing. Population has increased by about 0.79% per year. $1,000,000,000 in imports will be $1,007,900,000 next year. A $7,900,000 increase means nothing. Combined, $1,000,000,000 this year will be $1,033,066,391 next year. A $33,066,391 increase means nothing.

It may be, when we look at real dollar per capita net imports or imports, we may find something. But we will never know unless we make the adjustment.

Here is an important point, when the economy goes into a recession, the net imports falls back. Increasing net imports means the economy is recovering. The economy begins to recover, people get jobs, people buy stuff, some of what they by are imports. This is how it has been since about 1978. Before 1978, the US economy was far less efficient, employed far fewer people, and enjoyed a far lower standard of living. The US was a net exporter, with net exports falling toward zero with every recession. Since 1978, the US economy has been more efficient, employed more people, and enjoyed a much better standard of living. With each recession, net imports fell towards zero.

The absolute level of imports and exports for the last quater of 2011 was

Exports $2.121 trillion
Imports $2.698 trillion

Net exports of -$577 billion was about 12% of the total amount of money that flowed in the import/export markets. It was about 20 to 25% of any one of them.

And the reality is, that is just pieces of paper called money. It's not a measure of the actual volume of stuff. It is a proxy measure of the volume of stuff. What really matters is the stuff, the physical goods. As they say, the guy with the most toys wins. And that -$577 billion is more stuff.

The level of net imports and exports have nothing to do with the state of the economy except that a healthier economy has more exports and more imports. A strong global dollar buys more stuff. That -$577 billion means a strong dollar just as well as more stuff.

So the question is, what do we want? Do we want economic recovery or low imports. Do we want a strong dollar or low imports. Do we want more stuff, or more pieces of paper that sort of measure the stuff? Do we want more people employed, more efficiency, and a higher standard of living? Or do we want low imports?

Yes, since the end of the recession, imports have increased and with them net imports. This is the history of net exports.

Notice how it collapsed into the recession. It stopped it's collapse when the recession ended. Net exports have yet to reach the pre-recession levels. The economy still has a ways to go. If anything, we should be thrilled to see net imports increasing.
Even so, we don't tell people what they can and cannot buy, what they can and cannot sell. What we can do, what we have always done, is convince others to buy our stuff. If we cannot sell our stuff, to bring that net export balance towards zero, then the number isn't the issue. Maybe we would be making stuff that people want to buy.

BTW, there was no doubling and tripling of imports and exports. Exports have increased by 17%. Imports are up 5%. The difference between exports and imports is up 78%. The levels of imports and exports are so huge that they swamp the difference. A small change in the imports and exports results in a large percentage change in the net exports.

When you say incorrect shit, like "Doubling exports isn't doing us much good if we're tripling imports", you just add more stupid to the world.

Learn some basic algebra skills. You can start by actually doing the math when you want to say "doubled" and "tripled". Being intelligent starts with actually attempting to be so. And you wont bother trying until you accept that fact that you are not. No one is born with language and math skills. People learn them. At least, try.

Otherwise, don't use numbers you don't understand.

 

[itfitzme]

Exports are increasing, this is a very positive thing. Unfortunately imports are growing faster - as illustrated by our trade deficit that has DOUBLED since obama took office.

Doubling exports isn't doing us much good if we're tripling imports.

In order to even begin to understand net imports, the meaning of real dollar value and the contstantly increasing population must be understood.

In dollar terms, everything increases. Alone, an increase in the nominal dollar value of imports or net imports is meaningless because the price of everything increases. The only meaningful conversation is about the inflation adjusted real dollar values.

Every year, population increases. And with that increase, everything else increases. More absolute money is spent on imports simply because more people are purchasing imports. The only meaningfull conversation is about per capita consumption.

This should be pretty clear. It should not need explaining that inflation is about 2.5% a year. An import costing $1 this year will cost $1.025 next year. $1,000,000,000 in imports this year will be $1,025,000,000 next year. A $25,000,000 increase in imports means nothing. Population has increased by about 0.79% per year. $1,000,000,000 in imports will be $1,007,900,000 next year. A $7,900,000 increase means nothing. Combined, $1,000,000,000 this year will be $1,033,066,391 next year. A $33,066,391 increase means nothing.

It may be, when we look at real dollar per capita net imports or imports, we may find something. But we will never know unless we make the adjustment.

Here is an important point, when the economy goes into a recession, the net imports falls back. Increasing net imports means the economy is recovering. The economy begins to recover, people get jobs, people buy stuff, some of what they by are imports. This is how it has been since about 1978. Before 1978, the US economy was far less efficient, employed far fewer people, and enjoyed a far lower standard of living. The US was a net exporter, with net exports falling toward zero with every recession. Since 1978, the US economy has been more efficient, employed more people, and enjoyed a much better standard of living. With each recession, net imports fell towards zero.

The absolute level of imports and exports for the last quater of 2011 was

Exports $2.121 trillion
Imports $2.698 trillion

Net exports of -$577 billion was about 12% of the total amount of money that flowed in the import/export markets. It was about 20 to 25% of any one of them.

And the reality is, that is just pieces of paper called money. It's not a measure of the actual volume of stuff. It is a proxy measure of the volume of stuff. What really matters is the stuff, the physical goods. As they say, the guy with the most toys wins. And that -$577 billion is more stuff.

The level of net imports and exports have nothing to do with the state of the economy except that a healthier economy has more exports and more imports. A strong global dollar buys more stuff. That -$577 billion means a strong dollar just as well as more stuff.

So the question is, what do we want? Do we want economic recovery or low imports. Do we want a strong dollar or low imports. Do we want more stuff, or more pieces of paper that sort of measure the stuff? Do we want more people employed, more efficiency, and a higher standard of living? Or do we want low imports?

Yes, since the end of the recession, imports have increased and with them net imports. This is the history of net exports.

Notice how it collapsed into the recession. It stopped it's collapse when the recession ended. Net exports have yet to reach the pre-recession levels. The economy still has a ways to go. If anything, we should be thrilled to see net imports increasing.
Even so, we don't tell people what they can and cannot buy, what they can and cannot sell. What we can do, what we have always done, is convince others to buy our stuff. If we cannot sell our stuff, to bring that net export balance towards zero, then the number isn't the issue. Maybe we would be making stuff that people want to buy.

BTW, there was no doubling and tripling of imports and exports. Exports have increased by 17%. Imports are up 5%. The difference between exports and imports is up 78%. The levels of imports and exports are so huge that they swamp the difference. A small change in the imports and exports results in a large percentage change in the net exports.

When you say incorrect shit, like "Doubling exports isn't doing us much good if we're tripling imports", you just add more stupid to the world.

Learn some basic algebra skills. You can start by actually doing the math when you want to say "doubled" and "tripled". Being intelligent starts with actually attempting to be so. And you wont bother trying until you accept that fact that you are not. No one is born with language and math skills. People learn them. At least, try.

Otherwise, don't use numbers you don't understand.