Dustin Hoffman received excellent advice in the movie The Graduate: "Just one word...plastics." Every recent college graduate is looking for something similar - that one piece of advice that will provide them will all the answers, and make the future they've dreamed of one step closer to reality. I hate to disappoint, but my advice probably won't be the key to your future. It will, however, at least give you something to think about it. I've got one word you: trade.
With the way the economy has been going the past few years, it was no surprise when the Commerce Department recently reported that the trade deficit had jumped to nearly $50 billion. However, rather than signaling a double-dip recession, many are viewing this as quite the opposite - an economic expansion. According to a recent Slate article, exports were 5% higher in June than they were in December of 2009, with imports up 10.5%. This should be music to our ears.
The rising volume of trade—more goods and services shuttling in and out of the United States—is good news for many sectors. Companies engaged in shipping, trucking, rail freight, delivery, and logistics have all been reporting better than expected results. The rising numbers signify growing vitality in foreign markets—when we import more stuff, it puts more cash in the hands of people around the world, and U.S. exports are rising because more foreigners have the ability to buy the things we produce and market. The rising tide of trade is also good news for people who work in trade-sensitive businesses, especially those that produce commodities for which global demand sets the price—agricultural goods, mining, metals, oil.
While the number of U.S. imports is currently much higher than that of exports, U.S. exporters are becoming more involved with each passing month. Programs like The National Export Initiative will surely help even out the trade deficit over the next five years. However, to ensure change in the immediate future, U.S. companies have to start thinking outside the box. It's no longer enough to simply sell to fellow Americans - we must expand our horizons to the global market. Slate puts it best:
Companies and individuals who don't have a strategy to export more, or to get more involved in foreign markets, or to play a role in global trade, are shutting themselves out of the lion's share of economic opportunity in our world.
Now, go forth and prosper...and enjoy having this delightful song stuck in your head the rest of the day!
