10. WORLD TRADE MYTHS
There's a couple of world trade myths circulating amongst peak oilers, and they need to be cleared up.
Myth #1) China is the world's factory.
Reality: According to the latest WTO stats, China accounts for 5% of world exports. At 5.1%, France is a bigger exporter than China. The leading exporter in the world is the U.S., whose exports account for 10.7% of world exports. Number two is Germany, at 9.5%.
Source
Myth #2) U.S. manufacturing is in hopeless decline, and the Americans don't make anything themselves anymore.
Reality: As noted above, the U.S. is the world's #1 exporter. What are its top exports? Oddly enough, not movies, McDonald's hamburgers or Windows.
According to the Dept. of Commerce, International Trade Administration, the top 10 exports are:
1- Electrical Machry, Apparatus & Appliances
2- Motor Vehicles
3- Transport Equipment
4- Office Machines And ADP equipment
5- Power Generating Machinery
6- Miscellaneous Manufactured Articles
7- General Industrial Machry
8- Professional Scientific Instruments
9- Machinery Specialized
10- Telecommunications Equipment
Source
posted by JD @ 3:45 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
JD, I'm new to your blog, and just getting to know the Peak Oil debate. This particular one caught my eye because I have done some research in this area.
Your figures are accurate, but are taken without some much needed context:
1. The United States has a GDP roughly double China's.
2. In 2004 (the latest I have figures for), China's share in the market went up 22%, while the United States' share went down 5%
3. The United States lost 2,800,000 manufacturing jobs from 1999 to 2004. That is a 16.6% decrease in manufacturing employment in the U.S.
I certainly don't think our manufacturing sector is in 'hopeless decline', but at least by some measures, it has been declining.
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