You may have heard that the import to export ratio has created a trade deficit, that is 100% correct. however, i have heard a number of people say that it is because of Bush and the war. That part is mostly false.
True, we are spending more on the war, but the weapons we buy for the war come from america. that actually helps our GDP, but i'm getting off topic. In america we import roughly twice as much as we export. that's not a very good thing, unless you're not american. of the things we import petroleum (gas) is about 1/4 of that. this is a major problem, not because i'm some sort of liberal, but because we have in this country some of the richest farm land on earth. if we have the ability to stop trading with stupid terrorist and in turn grow our own gas, we fucking should.
btw, i found all of this in ch. 5 of my text book - Macroeconmics17 by McConnell Brue
>>1
Even more sadly, the US has to IMPORT GASOLINE since we don't have enough refinery capacity to do it. If we'd bother to build refineries instead of playing the endless NIMBY blocking game, we wouldn't be in this pickle. But, I guess Americans love overpaying for gasoline. Stupid is as stupid does. Oil-exporting Canada's dollar is now on par with the US$. Gad.
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Haruko2007-09-24 2:35 ID:UiNLgjny
Actually gasoline is cheaper in america than it is in most places because of that. if it was any more productive to make more refineries in the united states people would do that. the truth is we don't allow many more refineries in the US because of health issues. so companies just build them else where
It's not possible that gasoline is cheaper in America since some fraction of it is imported. gb2econ101
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Haruko2007-09-24 3:32 ID:UiNLgjny
for gasoline no. it is impossible that an export would be cheaper. but on a global scale, if we put more resources into making refineries (which are not run by cooperations) we may take away from another field. in other words we may pay less for gas, but we may pay more for food. that's the idea behind an equilibrium. if it was more profitable to do that we would, and you have to believe that it is since the industry is so old. also i take back what i said. life style is cheaper in america because of that, not gasoline.
my point has nothing to do with gasoline. my point is that oil has a strong hold on our economy--to the point things are fucked up because of it.
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Haruko2007-09-24 3:35 ID:UiNLgjny
okay it's fucking 3 am and i don't know how to edit my post.
refineries ARE run by cooperates.
and i meant to say import not export in the first line.
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Anonymous2007-09-24 15:33 ID:9+jgia4k
WE USED TO PRODUCE OUR OWN OIL WHAT HAPPENNED TO THAT??
OP, the problem of Import > Export in America is that we don't produce commodities as much as we use to.
Now, we run the business model of owning means of production overseas and shipping it back.
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Haruko2007-09-24 16:41 ID:UiNLgjny
>>9
even still, we used to produce 1/3 of the worlds goods. now we produce 1/8
i'm not 100% sure about this, i'm just stating some stuff i heard in class or read in the book. just pointing out that foreign competition has really increased. even if we own companies over seas, they count as america export.
>>11
we as a nation try to eliminate tariffs. tariffs cripple all aspects of the global economy. true capitalists believe that the best producer should produce items, not necessarily the best country. >>12
that is a fatal attempt to save a dying industries.
america needs to look at it's resources, and take those resources to work on things that other countries will want.
"we as a nation try to eliminate tariffs." no, no you don't. maybe YOU would like it if you did, but you don't.
I was telling #11 why you would produce in china with tariffs, rather than at home, doesn't have anything to do with saving a dying industry.
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Haruko2007-09-25 11:35 ID:rCTVrYTO
>>15
lol if we don't than I think they should. so does capitalistic ideals. china is by far the best capitalist