The U.S. Trade Deficit: A Misleading Economic Indicator

Authors

Murray L. Weidenbaum, Washington University in St Louis

Files

Publication Date

6-1-1998

Series Information

Policy Brief 191

Publisher

Center for the Study of American Business (CSAB), Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130

Description

The U.S. trade deficit is the most misleading indicator of economic performance in our statistical tool kit. More often than not, bad news for the economy is good news for the trade deficit, and vice versa. In 1992, the economy was in recession and our trade deficit came down. One year later, the opposite was true. When we look beyond the short-run gyrations of the trade balance and the business cycle, more fundamental, longer-run problems do involve the trade deficit. Indeed, it is a symptom of a more basic economic imbalance.

Keywords

Trade Deficit, Misleading, Economic Indicators, Policy, Investment, Saving

Disciplines

Economics | Public Policy

Comments

The Center for the Study of American Business (CSAB), 1975-2001, is the predecessor of the Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, Government, and Public Policy at Washington University in St. Louis. Permanent URL: http://dx.doi/org/10.7936/K74B2ZGJ

DOI

doi:10.7936/K74B2ZGJ

Recommended Citation

Weidenbaum, Murray L., "The U.S. Trade Deficit: A Misleading Economic Indicator", Policy Brief 191, 1998, doi:10.7936/K74B2ZGJ.
Murray Weidenbaum Publications, https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mlw_papers/151.