UK votes to leave EU

Re:UK votes to leave EU by paloaltokid on Friday June 24, 2016 @01:58AM (#11967005)

When talking about trade deficits, I always like to remember what one of my econ professors said about treating them as scorecards, which is usually misleading.

Exports are things we sell, imports are things we get to keep.

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Re:UK votes to leave EU by philhartmanonic on Friday June 24, 2016 @02:23AM (#11967141)

For real. Any time I hear popular macroeconomic metrics, I become deeply skeptical of whether there's gonna be anything worth listening to.

It's like taking your temperature. Sure, it could mean you're going to die. Could also mean you've got a healthy immune system fighting off a disease. Could mean it's time to stop wanking in the sauna.

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Re:UK votes to leave EU by lottin on Friday June 24, 2016 @05:33AM (#11968198)

Another way to view it is as the difference between a country's production and consumption. A trade deficit implies that the country consumes more than it produces, while a trade surplus is the other way round.

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Re:UK votes to leave EU by mrb on Friday June 24, 2016 @04:33AM (#11967860)

"imports are things we get to keep."

This is not true at all. Food is eaten. Energy gets used up. Electronics depreciate (very) quickly. Most physical goods wear out. Etc.

The only imports you get to "keep" long term are a few things like gold, cement, etc.

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Re:UK votes to leave EU by Neeek on Friday June 24, 2016 @05:04AM (#11968037)

I thought the sentiment was that export =/= loss, less the idea that you can keep imports forever.

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