World Trade Suffers Record Fall World trade fell by 12 per cent last year

[Neubarth]

As I have been pointing out for the past two years, World Trade has suffered a tremendous collapse. Look at the Baltic Dry Index or DRYS (a shipping stock) to get a picture of how serious it is. Both the index and the stock tell the same story. Global trade has gone to hell. Governments lie about it and pretend that things are rosy, BUT they aren't.



World Trade Suffers Record Fall

World trade fell by 12 per cent last year as the economic crisis caused the biggest drop since 1945, giving new urgency to the need to conclude trade talks, WTO chief Pascal Lamy says.

The unprecedented reduction in global commerce makes it "economically imperative to conclude" international trade negotiations, which are at a standstill, in 2010, Lamy said on Wednesday.

"World trade was reduced by 12 per cent in 2009," he told the European Policy Centre, a Brussels think tank.

It was the "sharpest decline" since the end of the World War II, he said, and worse than the 10 per cent fall that the WTO had forecast in December.

 

[Paulie]

Neubarth, last year was the middle of the worst recession in multiple generations.

What else did you expect?

We'll have a better idea of this when we see the numbers for 2010.

 

[rdean]

This is not an unexpected surprise. Take jobs out of this country, move them to other countries where you don't have to pay health insurance (because they have the public option) or even a minimum wage.

Squeeze every cent of profit you can. Bring those products back here and try to sell them, only you can't, because no one has a job. You can't sell them in the country they are being made in because no one is paid enough to buy. All of a sudden, no profits. Suddenly, everything is messed up.

 

[Neubarth]

The tremendous loss of "employment" has had a "tremendous" effect on buying capacity in the US. No wonder China is shipping less than half of what they used to.

 

[Neubarth]

If people would pay attention they would see that China's economic miracle is a facade.

 

[uscitizen]

Umm there is a pretty much global recession going on out there.