Be Patriotic: help reduce the balance of trade deficit
Most people in the US understand how important it is to make our troops feel like we stand behind them and support them - even if we believe getting into this war in the first place was a mistake.
There is another form of patriotism that is absolutely required of all Americans: to individually do everything in our power to help reduce the huge balance of trade deficit. A recent NewsWeek article (March 24, page 32) makes some very good points that more of us should pay attention to:
- The US is the largest debtor nation - living beyond our means at all levels and relying on foreign lenders
- Current yearly deficit is $500 billion (5% GDP)
- We make up the difference by borrowing
- Our debt to foreign lenders is now about $2 trillion (20% GDP)
- At current growth rates, our debt by 2010 is likely to be around 65% GDP - ouch!!
So, what can we, as individuals do? Here are some ideas:
- Reduce as much as you possibly can the amount of imported gasoline you use. This is the big thing that you can do to help out! You know what to do: car pool, prefer cars with better gas mileage, demand to your Congressional representatives that SUV owners are heavily taxed, etc. If you care at all about the future for our kids and grandchildren, conserve on gasoline use to reduce the outflow of money to oil producing nations.
- Save more money. The advertising media and big business wants people to get second and third mortgages on their homes to spend money on non-necessary items. Sure, consumer spending always helps our economy short term (which is what our politicians care about), but hurts us in the long run. As a nation, we save far less than other developed countries.
I worry that our country may be approaching an inflection point: already foreign investment in the US is falling rapidly. We have seen the dollar fall about 25% against the Euro recently. If the rest of the world switches to the Euro for purchasing oil, maintaining cash reserves, etc., our huge foreign debt may be called in quickly, with devastating results. It is really time, right now, to get our financial house in order.
Some spending particularly helps our long term economic interests however. As just an example, consider spending for education: this money spent stays in our country, and helps us be competitive in the future with other countries who keep increasing their investments in education, not reducing them. Education is just one example of many ways to invest for our long term financial future.
9:00:19 AM 
|
|
