At 08:21 AM 6/22/01 +1200 K.Feete wrote:
>>The Economist just so happened to publish a table last week, listing many
>>countries' exports of physical goods. Here are the 10:
>
>Eh, I asked (or at least meant to ask, before I get quoted) about net
>exports.
Well, I'm pretty sure that you asked for the former.
But out of curiosity, why do "net exports" (or any of this, really) matter?
Net exports is often directly correlated to currency strength. For
example, a government that prints lots of extra "bobos" will make the bobo
worth less, relative to the dollar. Thus, when a dollar might have bought
10 bobos before the government started printing, today it might buy you 20
bobos. That means that it will be relatively cheap for the US to by goods
from that country, and relatively very expensive for citizens of that
country to buy US goods.
Right now, the US happens to be following a tight monetary policy which has
left the dollar relatively expensive against other currencies. Thus, it is
very cheap for US consumers to buy lots of goods from other countries, but
it is very expensive for consumers in other countries to buy our goods.
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
We are products of the same history, reaching from Jerusalem and
Athens to Warsaw and Washington. We share more than an alliance.
We share a civilization. - George W. Bush, Warsaw, 06/15/01
