President Trump has long been focused on the US' ability to produce goods when compared to foreign countries since his campaign began. He has continually emphasized that the US is operating at deficits that are a bit off because he fails to focus on the service-side of the economy. For example, just last week he said we are at a trade deficit with Canada, which is true if you look strictly at goods production, but we are actually running at a surplus when services are included. Additionally, he states we are running at a $800 billion/year deficit, which is true if you exclude services, but that number is actually $556 billion/year.
One thing has been consistently true for President Trump, however, and that is that he wants to see manufacturing in this country, specifically cars and coal mining, to increase. If the President had not made this concept a big idea throughout his campaign, his approach to these numbers would be a tad different.
http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-keeps-focusing-on-goods-instead-of-services-in-the-economy-2018-3
6 comments:
This is a great example of how economic measures can be (accidentally or willfully) misconstrued depending on what is included!
President Trump knows exactly what he is doing in reporting these numbers. He has a hidden agenda and The United States deserves to be enlightened. I do find it odd how these numbers are being presented as worse-off, versus better off than the real data.
It's disturbing to see how the politicians focus on what people find appealing for their own motives. This would not be possible if people were more aware of how data can be misconstucted.
I wonder if he is reporting the numbers as worse off so that when people calculate progress during his presidency, his numbers look better than they really are.
I think this is a way to compete with China, the largest manufacturer in the world. To promote domestic manufacturing could reduce the importance of China. Many people are complaining that Chinese are exported their goods to the U.S., and I think this is because the U.S. does not have enough productivity to satisfy the domestic needs. I believe that Trump's decision is meaningful and significant in the competition.
I am sure Trump will absolutely skew the numbers in favor of his agenda once the next elections nears. He will continue to hammer the importance of goods manufacturing because the workers in that industry are the reason he is in office.
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