Economics, politics: US trade deficits and fallout, part 1

Self-tutoring about politics: the tutor wades into some current issues.

I wasn’t sure if the Gulf of America idea would happen for real, but apparently the order has been given.

When I was a kid in the 80s, Americans loved to call it the Gulf of Mexico. John Cougar Mellencamp, in “Pink Houses” (1983), mentions it by that name. Can you get more American than John Cougar Mellencamp?

Back then, it seemed, almost nobody was anxious about the USA’s position in the world, except a few old men in suits and ties. They talked about, among other things, the US trade deficit. Hardly anyone listened to those men about that; one might wonder if even their own families did. The only reason I heard them is that my father listened to them, on late night TV. (This was when we had less than ten channels.)

“So Bob,” one might say, “what do you think about the US trade deficit? Should we be concerned?”

“Well, it’s getting up there, isn’t it? If the trend continues, it could erode the US economy’s strength, and therefore its position in the world.”

In simple terms, a trade deficit is how much more a country buys than it sells. A surplus, on the other hand, is how much more it sells than buys. Back in 1985, the US trade deficit was around 114 billion. Yet, ten years earlier, in 1975, the US ran a trade surplus of about 16 billion. It was the last US trade surplus since.

In 2023, the US trade deficit was 773 billion. Individually, the US trade deficit with China was 279 billion; with Mexico, 152 billion. (Interestingly, Vietnam was third, at 105 billion.)

Those analysts back in the 1980s saw this possibility, and what they predicted seems to have come true: on the world stage, the US may not have the prominence it did back in 1975 or 1985.

That said, the US still commands a lot of influence; it might be surprising how much (see my post here). It seems that renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America is an attempt to gain back even more prominence. Noticeably, the name being replaced is one of the leading countries with which the US runs a trade deficit.

It seems that, since 1975, Mexico has gained prominence: one could imagine a sister country might become jealous, in some ways (see my post here). Yet, for the US, renaming the Gulf of Mexico likely won’t help much. Rather, it seems perhaps, as Dan Hartman says in his great song Free Ride: “You know all the answers must come from within….”

Btw: this is from a Canadian who visited Memphis, Tennessee last year and found it hard to leave:)

Source:

cbsnews.com

genius.com

macrotrends.net

worldpopulationreview.com

bea.gov

genius.com

Jack of Oracle Tutoring by Jack and Diane, Campbell River, BC.

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