The Deficit For Dummies

[upi402]

This blue collar dummy sees it one way;

Ship my $30 an hour job to China. I get a $15 an hour job in its place. Now I provide 1/2 the tax revenue.
Then allow folks into the country to to take my $15 an hour job. Now after using up some Unemployment Insurance resources, I get a $7 an hour job.
Now I pay 1/4 my former tax revenue, but have to use resources when I go to the ER for medical care.

I don't care how cheap that Chinese shit at WalMart is, I can't afford it.
What next? If I need something am I supposed to steal it? Do I really give a damn about jail if I need a warm place to sleep, and hot food to eat, for a while?

People in poverty use a lot of resources and contribute no tax revenue. Same with people in jail.

The only thing this dummy sees is this; The country that takes raw resources, adds labor and ingenuity, then sells to other countries -wins.

[hfojvt]

1. I don't really think you win by exporting

Try it from a household side. Suppose I am a farmer, and I take raw materials - seed and water and fertilizer and produce crops which I sell to other countries after feeding myself. Have I won? Well I am getting money, but what good is money? It is only good if I BUY something with it - (gasp) that means importing.

As far as the loss of high-paying jobs, that makes a certain amount of sense, but the per capita GDP, the measure of the value of goods and services that our country produces, has continued to go up. So I don't find your speculation to be an adequate explanation. Tax revenue has gone down because of big tax cuts for the Fab 400 and other people who still have high-paying jobs
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/123

[unblock]

4. as i work outside the house, i am "exporting" my labor

and the money i get in return puts me ahead.
yes i spend most of it on goods and services for my household (and to pay for the house itself) and that's "importing".
as long as i can save money, i'm ahead of the game, otherwise i'm running a deficit and racking up debt.

[TexasObserver]

2. You have encapsulated the past 25 years of "free market" at work.

By killing off many manufacturing jobs, we have tragically undercut our own economy. We have trashed the job market, all in the name of free market, a lie if there ever was one.

[upi402]

3. And gutted tax revenue

God knows we can't tax the robber barons who've looted the country -treasury, populace, and markets.

Even Greenspan admitted he was flawed absolutely in his lifetime of worship at the altar of Ayn Rand. I don't even WONDER what Team Obama is up to.