The black population is not equally distributed across the United States: not equally across regions of the country, nor within metropolitan areas. This unequal distribution is in substantial part a result of historical event and policy decisions, many of them rooted in racism. As a result, policies that certain regions of the country more than others, or certain parts of metropolitan areas more than others, will inevitably have disparate racial effects.
International tourism is counted in the official economic statistics as an export industry. We don't always think about it that way. But when, say, Chinese tourists in the US purchase goods and services, then Chinese consumers are buying goods and services produced in the United States--which is what "exports" means.
1. Manufacturing PMI fell to the lowest level since December
When the first trans-Atlantic telegraph message was sent in 1858, the tough question was how to follow up on the famous terse line that Samuel Morse had sent in 1844 over the telegraph between Baltimore and Washington: "What hath God wrought?"
The US economy, because of its enormous internal domestic market, is actually much less exposed to the effects of international trade than smaller economies around the world. For the world economy as a whole, the ratio of imports/GDP is about 28%, using World Bank data. For the US economy, the ratio of imports/GDP is 15%, about the same as Japan. For China, the import/GDP ratio is 18%; for Korea, it's 38%; for Germany, with all of its within-the-European-Union trade, the import/GDP ratio is 40%.
Should you face an extra tax if you drink soda? Eat potato chips? Uncork some wine? Light up a cigarette or joint? Toast yourself in a tanning booth? Many governments think so. Mexico taxes junk food. Berkeley taxes sugary soft drinks. Countless governments tax alcohol and tobacco. Several states tax marijuana. And thanks to health reform, the U.S. government taxes indoor tanning.
The US administration has avoided the debate on currency manipulation in the past years due to the impact of the financial crisis. Why? Because all major economies have tried to solve their imbalances through the same policies: massive liquidity injections and currency debasement. Currency wars were denied, but the “beggar thy neighbor” policy of the $20 trillion global monetary expansion is undeniable.