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To: westpacific who wrote (3445)	5/5/2001 12:35:38 AM
From: brightness00	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

Westpac, "Trade deficit" is just another piece of useless government statistic. Lets take for example, the imaginary state of El Dorado, which, like a simplified version of South Africa, produces and exports nothing but gold. Gold is not edible, nor wearable, yet the rest of the world happily and willingly supply El Dorado with food, clothes and building material in exchange for its gold, the implicit global currency in that world. Now look at our own world, the US contributes to the world economy by exporting the US Dollar, which has been more valuable than gold over the last decade (in 1990, gold was around $380 per ounce, now it's near $260). There is no trade deficit! Would you consider El Dorado having a trade deficit just because it pays for everything with something that has no intrinsic utilitarian value? The rest of the world buys into El Dorado's gold because their collective faith in El Dorado managing a stable gold supply rate. For the similar reason, the rest of the world buys into the US Dollar because of their collective faith in the USD's stability and flexibility; the US offers the most extensive financial intermediation industry. The real danger arises when some manufacturing guy in charge attempts to devalue the dollar or put up protectionist measures and break that implicit faith and trust in the process, like the idiots in charge in the early 70's did when they broke the Brentwood system in a misguided attempt to combat "trade deficit." Jim

To: westpacific who wrote (3445)	5/5/2001 10:36:27 AM
From: JMD	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 74559

WP--"Software produces a product that can be pirated, financial services churns capital." Sorry good sir, still can't buy into your vaporware theory. See, you'll have to convince me that Microsoft's coffers which at last count were sporting $30 BILLION IN CASH (think about that number WP) aren't really the real thing. 30 BILLION is about as real as any real I can conjure--and that's after all the piracy. You can export IPR and get paid oodles of dough for it, just like you can Harley Davidsons. No difference. In fact, those nutty folks down in Hollywood constitute an industry that earns a ton of foreign exchange for the USA (and the contempt of the French but we won't go there) and they do it without an ounce of steel. Pure celluloid and dreams--worth billions. Bottom line westpacific is that there ain't nothing wrong with letting the Japanese bend metal to deliver a shiny new Lexus to your door, while we code up the latest revision of Office 2000 to pay for it. We have a trade deficit because we import more than we export--not of goods or services, but more of both. If we had more services to export, we'd trim the deficit. If we had more goods, ditto. Just have to let go of this hostility for all things ethereal. regards, mike doyle