« Colbert on Madoff: Ponzi vs Fonzi Schemes | Main | Zimbabwe and a Currency Zen Question »

Latest Stories

• Zimbabwe and a Currency Zen Question
• Trade: Good News! Bad News! Or Something
• Colbert on Madoff: Ponzi vs Fonzi Schemes
• Predictably Irrational Us
• 60 Minutes on Speculators and Commodities

January 13, 2009

Trade: Good News! Bad News! Or Something

Trade data today was one of those outrageous sorts of crazy thing that happen lately, and yet causes no-one to blink an eye. We had a nearly 30% drop in the U.S. trade deficit, one of the largest percentage drops of all time, and yet it really didn’t matter in some sense.

Why? Because both imports and exports tumbled too. There was a 12% (!) drop in imports -- almost $25-billion, off the top. Admittedly, that was driven by both oil prices and declining consumer demand, but it was eye-popping. And exports fell too, but not on the same scale, with them tumbling a mere 6%.

More here.

Sphere It   |   Digg it   |   Bookmark it   |   Stumble it   |   Facebook it