I originally posted the following information and commentary onto my Facebook wall…
‘If We Didn’t Trade,’ Trump Argues, ‘We’d Save a Hell of a Lot of Money’:
https://reason.com/blog/2018/07/27/if-we-didnt-trade-trump-argues-wed-save?fbclid=IwAR2lGouSXBUNEN_tdI7FZqFU23GfcnAq5s9gN71pdu_uY9GofrrlH_9K60A
(Jacob Sullum) “Our trade deficit ballooned to $817 billion,” Donald Trump said during a speech to steelworkers in Granite City, Illinois, yesterday. “Think of that. We lost $817 billion a year over the last number of years in trade. In other words, if we didn’t trade, we’d save a hell of a lot of money.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the president exaggerated the size of the 2017 trade deficit by 48 percent. But that’s a mere quibble compared to his fundamental misunderstanding of what that number means, which in turn reflects a zero-sum view of economic exchange that does not bode well for the outcome of a tariff war supposedly aimed at promoting free trade.
My Commentary: He has the cunning of a bag of rocks.
