The Federal Reserve did a study four years ago that demonstrated that any time a trade deficit rose above 5 percent of a national economy’s GDP, an inflection point had been created. We are now approaching 6 percent of GDP. Obviously, I hope this does not result in crisis. That is, a debt crisis because of the amount of money we have to borrow from overseas to support our imports, nor a diminishment of our tax base through outsourcing to the point that jobs become so poor-paying that we can’t maintain our tax base. But all of that is entirely possible unless people awaken to the dangers that are being posed. I know this is dull stuff for many people, to talk about external debt and currency devaluations. But the fact is, they’re all in prospect if we do not reverse these mindless policies.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/qa/2005/02/lou_dobbs.html