Board-Ansicht
Mix-Ansicht- Der neue Bush-Berater Gregory Mankiv: Defizite kommen und gehen, wen schert's - kingsolomon, 13.05.2003, 22:07
Der neue Bush-Berater Gregory Mankiv: Defizite kommen und gehen, wen schert's
-->oder sollte man sagen, sein neuer Spinmeister. Vielleicht hätte er lieber
in Harvard bleiben sollen und an der sechsten Auflage seines Lehrbuch-Klassikers
feilen sollen...
Bush nominee for econ adviser unfazed by trade gap
Tuesday May 13, 3:52 pm ET
WASHINGTON, May 13 (Reuters) - Big U.S. trade deficits are not worrying because they reflect brighter investment prospects than in Europe or Japan, the White House's nominee to head the Council of Economic Advisers, Gregory Mankiw, said on Tuesday.
Mankiw, a Harvard economics professor picked by the White House to succeed Glenn Hubbard, who resigned in late February, told the Senate Banking Committee the spiraling deficit could be seen as"a vote of confidence" in U.S. economic policy.
Mankiw said"the flip side of trade deficits is a capital surplus" and the reason imports were higher than exports was"because people abroad are eager to have foreign direct investments in the United States and, in some sense, you can view that as a vote of confidence in the U.S. economy."
Earlier on Tuesday, the Commerce Department said the U.S. deficit widened by 7.6 percent to $43.5 billion in March, the second biggest shortfall on record.
Trade deficits come and go and as long as the economy is well run, they're not a problem by themselves, Mankiw said, adding:"I'm not tremendously worried about the trade deficit."
SEND MONEY
The reason deficits were large was"precisely because the United States has been growing faster than most of the rest of the world, even though we are not growing fast enough," he said.
Mankiw, the author of a widely used economics textbook, faced a two-hour grilling before the committee with Democrats in particular questioning his support for President George W. Bush's tax-cut program in view of big projected budget deficits.
"I think the president has called for spending restraint as part of the package of tax cuts and I feel totally comfortable with a policy of cutting taxes together with spending restraint in order to get the budget deficit under control," he said.
Mankiw played down fears about the possibility the United States could suffer deflation -- a prolonged period of falling prices -- but said it was important to act to ensure it doesn't happen.
"What we need to do is increase aggregate demand, increase spending to get rid of excess capacity and the high unemployment we now have," adding he believed the tax-cut measures would help achieve those goals.
Mankiw told Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, who expressed worry about the rising value of the euro against the dollar, that it was"conceivable" the euro could surpass the dollar as the world's leading currency but not likely.
"As long as the U.S. economy remains strong, I would think the dollar will remain as the standard-bearer," Mankiw said. The euro has gained strongly against the dollar the past several months partly because low U.S. interest rates have made Europe a relatively more attractive place for investors.
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