News item: Commerce Department said the February trade deficit swelled 4.3% to $61 billion, easily topping November's record $59.4 billion. Exports were nearly flat at $100.5 billion. Imports rose 1.6% to $161.5 billion, also a record. That was partly due to the price-driven run-up in oil imports, which rose $1.4 billion to $13.3 billion.
In a complex economic system, it's easy to oversimplify things. Heads talk about a single figure of merit (like the trade gap) as evidence of things gone wrong. It's why most people don't understand macro-economics. All these numbers are out there and none of them relate to what's happening at home.
To put this "deficit" into perspective, ...it amounts to about $200 per U.S. Citizen.
Two hundred dollars. I have a trade deficit with Great Clips that is more than that. Want to know what my trade deficit at Wal Mart is?
As long as we buy things on the open international market, there will always be this trade gap number. What it really means to us is not as much as some folks would have you believe.
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