US trade deficit is going to be balanced, the hard way or the easy way, eventually

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/05/american-manufacturing-crisis-and-why.html

Ian Fletcher: The American Manufacturing Crisis and Why it Matters

Posted on May 26, 2011

Despite the denial chorus of the same politicians, financiers, and economists who told us prior to 2008 that our financial sector was fine, the American public is increasingly aware of the truth: American manufacturing is in a state of deep crisis. (And ,as I argued in a previous article, the recent small uptick in this sector doesn’t change that fact.) snip

Our trade deficit is going to be balanced, the hard way or the easy way, eventually. And it will be essentially impossible for the U.S. to balance its trade without healthy manufacturing exports. Unless, of course, we are willing to radically curtail our imports, which means either:

a) A reduced living standard, or:

b) We start producing the formerly imported goods for ourselves. This, of course, itself requires a strong manufacturing sector, so we’re back where we started.

So there’s no way to avoid manufacturing.

[OHdem10]

1. Right On!!! Right nw it appears our Leader prefer the first--Lower

Living Standards.

All either party do on this issue is try to divert attention.

The DLC has always had the mantra--the problem is education.

Anyone with a half-ounce of common sense know education is
a long term fix. What do we do about jobs whild our iids get
this marvelous education???? They yip O h China and India
are going to clean our clocks. They never tell us an engineer
in China and India has a much lower salary than an American
Engineer. Heck they even permit Companies to bring in lower
wage Engineers to displace ours. (H-1B ) Thus lowering salaries
in this country.

Education is fine and I am all for it. It is one long-term fix.
For the next 20 years (while we educate the kids) what are our
brave leaders willing to do for their parents.

Lower the Living Standards is the obvious choice.

[NNN0LHI]

4. No, President Obamas first choice was to save the US auto industry and those manufacturing jobs

And a lot of people right here are still badmouthing him for that.

He signed the cash for clunkers bill and the first thing over half the people who used the program did was run out and purchase an imported car.

I imagine about that time he realized that most Americans weren't smart enough to do this the easy way. That is why it is probably going to end up being the hard way.

Don

[ChicagoRonin]

2. I don't think we've hit rock bottom yet

That point will be when offshoring/outsourcing/importing leads to the purchasing foreign products for our military essentials. Seems unthinkable, but who knows?

[NNN0LHI]

3. That is addressed by the author in the OP and explains why that won't happen

>>>What categories of manufactured goods does the U.S. still have a strong position, signaled by a trade surplus, in? Only aircraft, aircraft parts, weapons, and specialized machine tools (mainly machine tools for making the former). These areas are the last redoubt of American industry largely because they have been the beneficiaries of just about the only institution in the U.S. which still does serious industrial policy and blocks inappropriate trading relationships: the U.S. military.<<<