re: The US trade deficit PLUMMETS 16% in one month, from May to June.

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Apparently you don't know the difference between GDP and the trade deficit.

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You were insinuating the US economy was suffering, it is not

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The depression being caused by tariffs is fake news

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That is 100% truth. It did not cause it.

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It was caused by the Federal Reserve not providing sufficient liquidity in the banking system.

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This is 100% correct too.

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We can't trust the employment numbers but we can trust the trade numbers.....got it!

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Well, you could use your intellect and ask yourself, what policies are contributing to each? Now, that requires a little thought and not just accepting whatever is fed to you.

Explain, if the employment numbers are what they are, then what policy has Trump implemented that would hurt private employment numbers? If the employment numbers are bad, then how did wage $ grow and number of hours worked also grow in that same period (true indicators of economy health)? Something doesn't add up. Or, maybe it's the loss of federal jobs that are feeding the revised numbers, and private sector job growth is on the rise? You tell me what makes sense and what doesn't.

BLS - private sector job growth up, federal jobs down

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Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by 12 cents, or
0.3 percent, to $36.44 in July. Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have
increased by 3.9 percent. In July, average hourly earnings of private-sector production and
nonsupervisory employees rose by 8 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $31.34. (See tables B-3 and B-8.)

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The average workweek for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 34.3
hours in July. In manufacturing, the average workweek held at 40.1 hours, and overtime edged
down to 2.8 hours. The average workweek for production and nonsupervisory employees on private
nonfarm payrolls edged up by 0.1 hour to 33.7 hours in July. (See tables B-2 and B-7.)

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Now ask those same questions on trade. What policies that Trump has implemented could cause our trade deficit to plummet? The answer is blatantly obvious and one too inconvenient for you to accept because it destroys the narrative you pushed for so long.

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So the following are ALL down:

Imports are down
Exports are down
Manufacturing is down
Service sector is down

Tell me why this should be celebrated?

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LOL

Exports:
May: $278B
Jun: $277.3B (drop of $700M)

Imports:
May: $350.3B
Jun: $337.5B (drop of $12.8B)

So exports barely dropped 0.25% and imports dropped 3.65% and you think thats bad. Thats winning.

The economy expanded by 3.0% on 2nd qtr after contracting by 0.5% in 1st qtr.

Trade gap with Chyna dropped by a 3rd to $9.5B in Jun, lowest since Feb 2004 (21 years). Over 5 months it has narrowed by $22.2B - a 70% reduction.

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Its natural if youre a wealthy nation.

We will always have trade imbalances as long as we are the top dog economically.

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The problem with this is your second statement. Its natural in some instances. We should not have huge deficits with nations that are roughly as wealthy. Countries that run massive trade deficits will not remain the top dog economically in the long haul. A country that produces nothing has a very low economic floor. In the event of war, pandemic, or foreign collusion (i.e. BRICS), being entirely reliant on services is dangerous

In theory, yes it is a good thing foreigners subsidize steel, pharma and other goods, we pay less than it should cost. In practice it means the US is hollowed out in the jobs available for lower to middle class. The import model economy is great for the top 10%, not so great for everyone else. Cheaper goods dont mean much if you dont make much money

It also means foreigners can pull the lever at any time, and the US faces intense shortage without the domestic means to cover the gap. In 1973, the US experienced this with oil

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In fact, when it comes to manufacturing we are number two globally and the highest ranked per capita.

We offshore what is inefficient to produce here.

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Wrong way to look at it. What we manufacture here is very high value goods. Military, cars, heavy machinery. All of which rely on importing parts from foreign countries, so again in the event of something happening we are not able to produce domestically.

The benefits from "inefficient" to produce here, like consumer goods, impacts a small percentage of the population:

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The top 10% of earners—households making about $250,000 a year or more—are splurging on everything from vacations to designer handbags, buoyed by big gains in stocks, real estate and other assets.
Those consumers now account for 49.7% of all spending, a record in data going back to 1989, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. Three decades ago, they accounted for about 36%.

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LINK




This is how you end up with pitchfork mobs

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A trade deficit or surplus on its own isn't a predictor of much.

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An annual trade deficit for each year for the past 50 years is however.

But Fox News said…..

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Id rather pay a couple hundred bucks extra for my next big screen so someone works a "inefficient" factory job than pay it in welfare

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No one is stopping you from buying American.

It’s nice to be able to choose. It’s called freedom.