Western Decline Caused by Trade, Budget Deficits: The Solution Is Simple

By James Kwak

Back in November of last year, when Jeff Frieden and I were putting the finishing touches on Lost Decades, we wrote: Many countries with foreign debts in their own currency reduce their real debt burden by allowing their currency to drop in value, so that foreigners get repaid in less-valuable currency.

Howard Richman submits:Wishful thinking is not working. Many trade deficit countries are hoping that growing exports will get their economies moving, but the trade surplus countries are not cooperating. The U.S. economy is stagnating because of our trade deficit with China. The U.K. and Sourthern Europe are stagnating because of their trade deficits with Germany.

Publishing a tabloid newspaper in New York is not for the timid, but the accusation Cablevision CEO Jim Dolan just leveled against New York Daily News owner Mort Zuckerman is strong stuff even by those standards. In a press release, Cablevision claims that Zuckerman "has engaged in a campaign of intimidation and extortion to effect a merger between Newsday and the Daily News."

Howard Richman submits:President Bush, whose trade policies caused a decade of American stock market decline, liked to tout them while standing outside a Boeing (BA) aircraft factory, Boeing being one of America's premier exporters. On July 7, President Obama, having continued Bush's trade policies, brought Boeing CEO Jim McNerny Jr.