40. Baby and Student, Investment and Balance


Baby and Student, Investment and Balance

Bob Komives
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If we measure economic relationships among nations by subtracting imports of trade goods and services from their complementary exports, we produce a figure that says something about trade surplus or deficit. It is a humble figure that has a secure place in the basement of accounting houses. Unfortunately, we often invite this figure to stride out of its basement nook, mount a dark horse, and ride off self-importantly into media and politics. If we fix our attention on this figure as it parades by with its precedents and successors in impressive curves and columns, we miss most of what is important about exchange of wealth.

Much wealth flows across time and international boundaries in ways that do not fit trade figures. If we climb above the parade and broaden our view, we can see that nations form just one layer among complex layers of overlapping, wealth-exchanging communities. We can see that the trade routes connecting nations are but a few conduits in the biosphere's complex network of wealth exchange.

We will see imbalance when we focus on isolated conduits. For trade to happen, local, temporal, item-specific imbalances must exist. There must be vacancies in a housing market; there must be imbalance in trade; there must be imbalance for there to be investment.

Notice, as baby and student come by.
Baby imports wealth
far in excess of export.
Student does more of same.
Do you see an obscure trade deficit
or an obvious good investment?

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Imports have always exceeded exports in our biosphere. Otherwise, biosphere could not have grown and prospered. Biosphere, our prototype for economic development, does export byproducts to the inanimate universe, but never as requisite to an import. A community with trade imbalance may be investing well in children, education, quality of life, and survival. A business can be responsible while borrowing to invest in its future. So too, a community invests responsibly in its future using trade imbalance to borrow necessary resources from neighboring communities which voluntarily foster their own profitable, responsible imbalance.


:: Bob Komives, Fort Collins © 2006 :: Plum Local IV :: 40. Baby and Student, Investment and Balance ::
With attribution these words may be freely shared, but permission
is required if quoted in an item for sale or rent

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