The Commerce Department today released the August trade numbers. You may be shocked to hear that we are still running a pretty big trade deficit. This from Bloomberg:
The U.S. trade gap widened in August to $54 billion, the second largest ever, as oil imports soared to a record and exports stalled...
``Skyrocketing oil prices are sucking the wind out of the economy,'' said Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economic Advisors in Holland, Pennsylvania...
Oh my! And if that ain't enough, there's always China to worry about:
Record imports of $18.1 from China contributed to the deficit. The George W. Bush administration is urging China to let its currency float against the U.S. dollar...
On this, Mr. Bush has some well-credentialed support at the Fed.
China has kept its exchange rate at about 8.3 yuan to the dollar since 1995, and American manufacturers say undervalues the yuan by 40 percent and creates an unfair trade advantage. Federal Reserve Governor Ben S. Bernanke told a panel at the Cato Institute in Washington today that a more flexible currency would benefit China ``as well as the rest of the world.''
More to follow, I'm sure.