And so I don't find it very appealing to say that we are going
to cut off our arm because some day we might get a disease in it."
This, again, is dissimulation. This administration - heated
protestations to the contrary notwithstanding - resorted to blatant
trade protectionism in a belated effort to cope with an avalanche of
cheap imports. Steel quotas, farm and export subsidies, all manner of
trade remedies failed to stem the tide of national red ink.
The dirty secret is that everyone feeds off American abandon. A sharp
drop in its imports - or in the value of the dollar - can spell doom
for more than one country and more than a couple of industries. The USA
being the global economy's sink of last resort - absorbing one quarter
of world trade - other countries have an interest to maintain and
encourage American extravagance. Countries with large exports to the
USA are likely to reacts with tariffs, quotas, and competitive
devaluations to any change in the status quo. The IMF couches the
awareness of a growing global addiction in its usual cautious terms:
"The possibility of an abrupt and disruptive adjustment in the U.S.
dollar remains a concern, for both the United States and the rest of
the world .
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