Honest, paywall-free news is rare. Please support our boldly independent journalism with a donation of any size.
The trade deficit figures for August were released this morning by the Census Bureau’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. The Bureau reports that “total August exports of $189.2 billion and imports of $228.0 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $38.8 billion, up from $38.6 billion in July, revised.”
That’s $38.8 billion more, drained from the economy, in just one month.
The monthly U.S. goods deficit with China was $29.9 billion in August. This is down just slightly from $30.1 billion in July. But July’s 30.1 billion was a record.
The goods deficit with Japan was $6.4 billion, down a bit from $6.8 billion in July.
Trade deficit = American jobs go away. Big, ongoing trade deficit = millions of US jobs go away. Enormous, humongous trade deficit = millions fewer jobs, poor economy, wage and income concentrated up to a few billionaires, democracy converts to plutocracy … all the things we see around us now.
“Strong dollar” = higher prices for US goods in world markets = weak job growth. This is why countries like China manipulate their currency to keep it down, or “weak.”
Also “free” trade, where we let in goods made by exploited workers who have no say in whether they can elect leaders or even get a raise, costs US jobs. Obviously.
A terrifying moment. We appeal for your support.
In the last weeks, we have witnessed an authoritarian assault on communities in Minnesota and across the nation.
The need for truthful, grassroots reporting is urgent at this cataclysmic historical moment. Yet, Trump-aligned billionaires and other allies have taken over many legacy media outlets — the culmination of a decades-long campaign to place control of the narrative into the hands of the political right.
We refuse to let Trump’s blatant propaganda machine go unchecked. Untethered to corporate ownership or advertisers, Truthout remains fearless in our reporting and our determination to use journalism as a tool for justice.
But we need your help just to fund our basic expenses. Over 80 percent of Truthout’s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors.
Truthout has launched a fundraiser to add 500 new monthly donors in the next 9 days. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger one-time gift, Truthout only works with your support.