Do we need another reason to become oil independent? Well, I'll give you one. Oil imports are one of the largest items that create our trade deficits. As many economists will tell you, trade deficits and budget deficits move in tandem most of the time. Furthermore, the economic benefits of a tax cut is largely offset by a rising trade deficit. So oil acts as a tax hike to offset any tax cuts, which means fiscal policy stimulus efforts are rendered toothless. Some obvious conclusions then present themselves. If we want to lower our trade deficit, it would be good policy to tackle the largest deficit item, namely oil imports, which would in turn allow us to lower taxes further, making American businesses broadly more competitive. Once again, we find that oil independence, only consuming as much oil as we can produce, is just plain common sense for our economy.
fxstreet.com
US trade deficit widened $3.8bn to $40.2bn in Dec. The largest trade deficit in a year reflected the ongoing recovery in global trade. Exports were very strong, posting a broad-based 3.3% gain, led by autos and civilian aircraft. But imports rose a faster 4.8% (also broad-based), however higher oil imports (mostly volume) were a major contributor: the ex-petroleum deficit only widened by a few hundred million dollars.
Other sources:
policyarchive.org
yglesias.thinkprogress.org
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