Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Deficit comm. USA: Peggiore delle peggiori aspettative

3/12/05:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/12/opinion/12sat3.html
Harbingers of Harder Times
At $58.3 billion, the United States' trade deficit for January
exceeded everyone's worst expectations.
The huge mismatch reported yesterday between imports and exports just
missed breaking the monthly record, set last November, and is all the
more remarkable for occurring in a month when the price of oil
actually declined.
The trade deficit is the single most important factor in measuring the
extent to which the nation lives beyond its means.
As such, it should force us to own up to the dangers of rampant
deficit spending.
But the White House is showing no sign of action, as if doing nothing
might make the problem smaller.
In response to yesterday's trade deficit figure, the dollar weakened
against the euro and the yen, and traders predicted further declines
in the weeks and months ahead.
That, in turn, contributed to a drop in stock and bond prices.
Such gyrations are certainly not unprecedented.
The dollar has been on a downward trajectory for three straight years
and was going into a fresh skid even before the latest trade deficit
figure was released.
That slump was largely in response to recent reports, some later
denied, that Asian central bankers may begin moving their huge dollar
holdings into other currencies.
That would mean higher interest rates in the United States because the
government would need to sweeten Treasury yields, and higher interest
rates imply further declines in stock and bond prices.
A declining dollar also risks higher inflation; more expensive imports
give domestic producers an excuse to raise prices.
There may be more trouble to come.
Next week, the government will release figures showing how much
capital flowed into the United States from abroad in January.
Those numbers were down by nearly one-third in December.
If next week's report is disappointing, the logical response from the
currency markets would be to sell dollars - again raising the threat
of all the possible side effects.
Since the trade deficit is intimately connected to the federal budget
deficit, the best way to reduce the trade imbalance is to reduce the
budget gap.
But President Bush is calling for more tax cuts, politically
implausible spending cuts and costly Social Security privatization.
Both parties in Congress must address the twin trade and budget
deficits - or risk being forced to do so by events beyond their
control.

E LA GLOBALIZZAZIONE CONTINUA...
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charlie

 E LA GLOBALIZZAZIONE CONTINUA...
Se continuasse così, ti toccherebbe sceglierti un altro paio di stivali da
lustrare, o guerriero casalingo (quello che starnazza di "guerra" con le
palle degli altri). Hai da fare anche stasera, cocco de mamma tua? Essì che
noi charlies scenderemmo volentieri a singolar tenzone... Il tuo "pugnale"
l'hai affilato? Sì? E allora...? Ah, la nonna ha l'influenza? Beh,
capisco...
Namib