2005 U.S. Trade Deficit - $725.8 Billion

Imported oil is always a step backwards for any countries economy. A good reason to invest in your own farmers and produce fuel that is 100% owned and made. Be it BioWillie (Bio-Diesel) or Ethanol blended fuel, both are significant step forward to reducing commodity dependance on middle eastern nations.

 

Well that calls for another tax cut.

 

Wars and natural disasters that the govt. sees fit to fund, cost lots of dough.

 

Our appetite for foreign goods accelerates. The trade deficit is aggravated by some of our trading partners who don't fully float their currencies (esp. Russia and China), and the gap in regulation and taxation between the domestic and foreign business environments. Every new regulation and business tax we pass (like in MD with the "Wal-Mart tax" and CA's proposed energy windfall tax) adds to the current accounts deficit, which costs us jobs, market share, and (in the end) national security.

We can bellyache about it all we want, but until we have more tax cuts and deregulation, the trend will only continue.

 

>Imported oil is always a step backwards for any countries economy.

Why is oil different than other raw materials?

What happens when the farmers make more money growing fuel precursers than food stocks?

 

Oil is expensive for starters.

What happens to a nations economy when farmers are in bankrupcy?

Farmers tradionally reap many different crops in order to make a living, Ethanol is prodcued from foods like Grapes, Soybeans and corn, so those foods are much more abundantly available.

 

That can't happen unless the govt. props up the price with our money. It should be on a free market basis.

 

>What happens to a nations economy when farmers are in bankrupcy?<

Same thing that happened when the buggy whip manufacturers were in bankruptcy. There are to many farmers for the existing market.

 

Except that the value of farmland is double it's real worth, because it is bought with subsidies in mind. Massive bankruptcies would result in so many banks going under that our monetary system would collapse. Subsidies would have to be phased out over a long transition time, or deflation would occur. Assuming, of course, that politicians would eliminate them to begin with...

I have only pasture and forest lands, which aren't eligible (just in case you were wondering).

 

Purchase price, not value.

Talked to a fellow who claimed that Bank of America has set up a new department to handle the repos which will occur when the interest rate hits 8% in a year or so.

 

That's okay, the Arabs will buy them up. They own so much American real estate now, it's sad.

In the meantime, Bank of America has recently changed their menu when you call in. Now, BOA customers can electronically transfer funds directly to Mexico by the touch of the key pad.

 

Can't tell you, because the information available is very sketchy & multi-layered & I doubt if all the info is even available or public. The multi-layers comes through their ownership of stock in banking and finance, which in turn invests in real estate, such as hotel chains, resorts, pharmaceutical companies, etc. I do know the bin Ladin family owns real estate in the US, has holdings in major US corporations (such as Carlysle & GE), for example. And that's just one family and we aren't talking small change. That one Saudi wealthy sheikh just bought out most of the shares of Fox News Channel.

Also, 10,000 immigrant visas per year are available to qualified individuals seeking permanent resident status on the basis of their engagement in a new commercial enterprise.

Government web site

At any rate, what do you think would happen to our economy if all these foreign investors decided they wanted to pull their money out of America and liquidate? I also am not forgetting the little insider trading that was done about 09/11.

The trade deficit and the money the US owes in our national debt and the money invested in American interests is all tied together in a big worldwide web which you and I are not even a part of, even though, if and when the bottom falls out, you and I will be the ones to suffer the ramifications - it won't be the rich and powerful who suffer, be they Arab sheikhs or Caucasian politicians.

No one in Washington DC is going to do anything about the trade deficit, Ken - Republican or Democrat. They all have fleas. And 8.8 billion with a b American dollars were handed over to the Iraqi interim government several years ago and as yet is still unaccounted for. No one knows where it went. And no one in DC cares, either.

Excuse the rambling but it's all a web of corruption and selling out of America. [/rant]

 

Hey, Ken, I wish I had the time to search out every company & figure out who owns what. Maybe I should spend more time on www.motleyfool.com ???? Have you ever visited over there? I found it by accident about three years ago. They have a lot of investment scoop. Sorry for the hijack.

 

Ken

Don't tell me a libertarian is against free trade!

 

Remember when the Japanese bought American land and took a bath? They were going to show us how to raise cows.