Written by WB in 2003, but could have been written yesterday (only the metrics are far worse now)
Seen here:
Jeff
2 Likes
Warren Buffet was both right and wrong.
The USD did indeed hit a high in 2002. (I remember that clearly because it was a great time to visit Europe but I was too depressed to travel after Mom died.)
Here’s a chart that is more recent and detailed.
The international balance of trade includes goods (which is strongly negative and getting worse – in fact, it fell off a cliff starting in 2023) and services (which is positive but small relative to goods).
The USD is relatively strong. It doesn’t seem to correlate to the trade deficit. The U.S. continues to be Squanderville and I continue to be astonished (along with Warren Buffett) that exporters continue to sell to us in return for ever-growing piles of debt.
Wendy
2 Likes
Be worried when they start refusing to sell us stuff in exchange for Dollars. Worry when they demand payment in Euros or Yuan instead.
3 Likes
They then promptly swap their US dollars for gold 
Dear Jeff,
Even Buffett will discuss anything but raising corporate taxes.
Wrong again.
He wishes other corporations would pay taxes the way Berkshire does.
3 Likes
Dear Goof!
It is not that simple. My context is heavy industry expensing up to the marginal tax rate to retool the country.
Without retooling the country we all get poorer over time. The country’s debt rises in relation to GDP. The military spending which is necessary fails in the future.
Those WEB wants paying their taxes are service industry corporations. All good and well but we need to produce a lot more. Then we might need to insure a lot more. Let’s put the horse before the cart.
To put a finer point on the topic. WEB is not talking about retooling the country by raising corporate taxes.
Re: China’s trove of US dollars. Investments–
Or real estate. Lithium and iron mines. Rare earths. Investing in infrastructure like seaports across the globe.