Fish Wind Sock

Day 248: Fish Wind Sock
Our fish wind sock is a tiny little contributor to the trade deficit with China. We bought it on our first trip back to San Francisco after we moved to Ann Arbor. It has been a friendly placemaker on our front porch for many years, a point of reference and a bright spot. Such things aren't sturdy; one expect them eventually to become tattered and tossed away, like Kleenex in a pocket.

The U.S. Trade Overview by the Department of Commerce surprised me. I was surprised that the U.S. is the largest exporter of services in the world, and the second largest exporter of goods. The trade imbalance is improving. Exports comprise 30% of our GDP and support over 11M jobs. All that is quite different from the trade imbalance news that I'm accustomed to hearing, which generally pits the U.S. specifically against China. The U.S. Census, for example, reports the 2014 trade imbalance with China at $251B.

I am not an economic analyst, but all this raises a question in my mind about the usefulness of comparing two countries. Is international trade an arm wrestling match, with high stakes and a single winner? Or is it trick-or-treating, where the kids with the most motivation, the greatest speed and the latest curfew collect more candy, but everybody comes home with something in their plastic jack-o-lantern? No doubt, a smaller bucket of candy doesn't make a story.

Another interesting thing: the top three U.S. exports in 2013 were machinery, electronic equipment and mineral fuels. China's are electronic equipment, machinery and knit clothing. I picture shipping boats loaded with flat screen televisions passing each other in the Doldroms while the Chinese crank up the heat and Americans make do with warm sweaters.

Plastics ranks high on both the lists, and I suppose our nylon fish wind sock falls into that category. It's made of polymers anyway, just like plastics. I have often thought of Chinese factory workers making strange plastic items for export to the U.S. and other places. Now that I know plastics are big export items for both the U.S. and China, I'll need to expand my imagination to include U.S. assembly-line workers manufacturing little plastic bits that will disperse through the world like fireworks.

Speaking of which. Fourth of July fireworks may seem as American as the National Anthem, but 93% of our patriotic firecrackers are made in China.