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Trade Deficit Shows Need to Improve Exports

The Commerce Department stated on Tuesday that the trade gap increased in September 7.6% to $43.03. It is much larger than the estimated $38.1 billion. It is believed that an improving GDP will lend to improvements in exports but this not what happened. The results may be long-term or short-term but do reflect a need for the U.S. to adjust its policies to return to a higher exportation status unseen since a generation ago. Exportation is a solid reflector on internal capacities of a nation to meet market demands. Much of the recent decline is associated with global economic factors much outside the control of the U.S. The biggest losses were a 6.5% decline in exports to the European Union, 3.2% to China, and 14.7% to Japan. The losses seem to reflect lower economic activity in all three regions of the globe and may simply be a factor of total consumption.   That doesn’t mean the country can’t improve its export capabilities. Outside of a slower global economy are two major

Does Improvements in Consumer Sentiment and GNP Indicate Future U.S. Growth?

The University of Michigan recently announced improvements in consumer sentiment from 80 in March to 84.6 in September ( 1 ).   Consumers who have been frugal with their pay checks over the past may now be willing to open their wallets. Increased consumer spending matched with improvements in Gross National Product (GNP) could be a good sign for the economy.  Consumer sentiment and sales are two different things but certainly positive impressions today can lead to increased sales tomorrow.   According to Gelper, et. al. (2007) positive consumer sentiment is followed by increased purchases of products and services in the trailing 4-5 months. They argue that consumer sentiment maintains some predictive power over consumer spending.  Another complementary announcement by the Commerce Department posted a rise in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 4.6% ( 2 ).   Positive GNP numbers were realized from personal consumption expenditures, exports, private inventory investment, state a