Services grow in importance in world trade
When we think of exports, we tend to visualize container ships, trains or planes carrying large, heavy cargo. But former Federal Reserve economist W. Michael Cox tries to correct that impression in today’s New York Times (Feb. 17). While praising President Obama’s State of the Union speech call for the United States to “export more of our goods”, Cox says it would have been much better to have said “goods and services.” As Cox points out, the United States has a $144 billion surplus in services, including an 8-1 edge in operational leasing — handling short-term deals on planes, vehicles and other equipment — a 6-1 margin in movie and television program distribution, and a 4-1 advantage in architectural, construction and engineering services. In total, the United States is competitive in 21 of 22 services categories, with significant surpluses in 12 of them. Read