Word: surplus
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Since the late 1990s, the U.S. has been spending far more than it has earned, sending huge sums of capital overseas, a dynamic measured as the current account deficit. This "giant pool of money," as the radio program This American Life described it, did not stay in low-spending surplus countries like China or oil-producing states. Instead, much of it came back to the U.S. in the form of cheap credit. "Like water seeking its level, saving flowed from where it was abundant to where it was deficient, with the result that the United States and some other advanced...
...There are massive ironies in the "protection" of those damaged by imports. If you listen to many politicians, especially American ones, you would think that imports are bad, a signifier of economic failure. Trade only "works" if a country runs a surplus. (A logical impossibility when extended to all countries, but never mind.) Free-traders scream: No! It is imports, not exports, that are the whole point of trade; we trade precisely so we can enjoy those goods in whose production others have a comparative advantage. But that message is not easy to get across in hard times...
...French winemakers fear that the new rules will allow any producer to mix their surplus whites and reds, flooding the market with cheap, poor-quality rosé. "We are shocked by these plans," says Eric Rosaz, director general of the Association Générale de la Production Viticole, France's winemakers' association. "We have our own traditions in France, and we want to protect them. We want to ensure that French rosé remains a quality product and is recognized as such. But this proposal could force thousands of winemakers out of business...
...planned E.U. reforms are part of a wider overhaul that aims to drain the surplus production in Europe's so-called wine lake and slash some of the E.U.'s $1.8 billion annual subsidies paid to the industry. Commission officials say the new rules could help European wines compete against their New World cousins. "We're importing rosé made by blending, so it's pretty daft that we don't allow it in Europe," says Commission spokesman Michael Mann...
...broken promises. Higher taxes during recessions only exacerbate the pain felt by Americans and slow down recovery. The alternative, running a large deficit, is surely better than remaining in an economic downturn. In many ways, the wasteful, destructive policies of the Bush administration that turned a budget surplus into the largest deficit since World War II have limited Obama’s options. Eventually, he will have to take steps to cut the budget deficit. However, a large deficit is much more harmful to an economy at full employment than it is to an economy with a gap between potential...