The Trade Deficit Isn't Such a Terrible Thing
Jeremy Siegel provides an excellent explanation that 'Trade Deficits Are Capital Surpluses' (op-ed, March 13). An important point to consider: In his hypothetical of an American buying a $40,000 Toyota, nobody was taken advantage of, so long as the transaction was executed freely by both parties. Both sides ended up better off after the exchange, or else it wouldn't have happened at all.
If we insist that somebody was taken advantage of—or that one benefited less than the other—then it was Toyota. The American has in his hands the real good. Toyota has in its hands pieces of paper that may, in the long run, turn out well or poorly. If the company holds U.S. stocks, they may lose value if the government pursues growth-adverse policies such as tariffs. If Yogi Berra were alive today, he might have told us that imposing such levies is an exercise in 'self-inflicted suicide.'
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