People intend the natural consequences of their acts.
The burgeoning trade deficits are not the result of bad trade deals or ineffective tariff policies. They are the result of a deteriorating U.S. economy which is no longer one of production, but of consumption and debt. A growing economy creates trade surpluses not deficits; it produces more than it consumes.
Because of decades of anti-capitalistic economic legislation – confiscatory taxation, regulatory burdens, inflationary monetary policy, “crowding out” budget deficits, unemployment subsidies, minimum wage laws, and an overemphasis by the establishment on higher education – the U.S. is no longer an industrial power and not a conducive environment for economic growth.[1]
Not to mention the catastrophe of off-shoring to chase subsistence wages, lax environmental laws, and artificially reduced exchange rates.
Notes
[1] “Who Cares About The (Record) Trade Deficit? We All Should…” By Schiff Gold, 3/9/22 (emphasis removed).
