I finally got around to reading Barry Ritholtz’s ‘The Big Picture’ blog from 11/4. There were several interesting articles in it but it ended with two info graphs that I think are worth looking at.
Where the US imports most of its stuff from
Will someone please explain why our trade balance with Ireland is so out of balance? We seem to be importing over 7X than what we are exporting there. I’ve occasionally bought Irish butter, but that is a whole lot of butter.
In a word, drugs.
Pharmaceuticals $32.6 billion Organic chemicals 23.7 billion Optical, photo, technical, medical 8.7 billion
DB2
@DB2 beat me to it. Here’s my rationale…
Jameson whiskey?
Guinness beer?
Irish sweaters?
Claddagh Rings?
Ireland went from virtually a 3rd World country in the 1960’s to being as rich as Swtizerland today largely as a result of making investments to educate its English-speaking population. US tax avoidance also played a big part with many US Tech and Pharmaceutical companies moving operations there to take advantage of the educated, English-speaking labor.
Today, Ireland is too expensive for most natives to live there, kind of like Silicon Valley/San Francisco.
intercst
Bingo! You beat me to the punch.
Yep. The Irish call it “Leprechaun economics”. {{ LOL }}
If the US wasn’t so bent on celebrating racism, ignorance and innumeracy, we could have a lot of those jobs and industry here, instead of sending it to Ireland.
intercst
It is true US ignorance is on display. The people who are ignorant want to ignore it.
Do ignorant people have the capability to ignore their ignorance? 
No, And that is the true measure of their ignorance, It is also the only available escape from an infinite regress…
david fb
(Holy Mary Mother of God the Blessings of Patrick and a few Lepruchans thrown in, but I do love Ireland)
Do you think Homer does not know it? Bart lets him know it all the time.
Oh yes the Irish are merciless is discussing the common git.
