Positive News On The Trade Deficit? from Donald Boudreaux
The following is a letter to the editor at The Wall Street Journal, written by Donald J. Boudreaux:
Kicking the kicking horse.
9 March 2007
Editor, The Wall Street Journal
200 Liberty Street
New York, NY 10281
To the Editor:
You are too quick to call January's fall in the U.S. trade deficit "positive" ("Stocks Rise on Jobs Report," March 9).
What if the trade deficit fell because foreigners now find America to be a less-attractive place to invest? What if foreigners' confidence in the dollar is fading? Would these developments - which shrink the trade deficit - be "positive"?
Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Chairman, Department of Economics
George Mason University