Set aside the fact that President Trump’s trade agenda is ill-conceived and that his plan for bringing it about is inchoate at best. (The current account includes both the trade balance and the net flow of income generated by foreign investments.) If a country is running a current account deficit, then the net negative outflow of goods must be balanced by a net positive inflow of investment. So saying that you’re alarmed about a trade deficit is the same thing as saying that you’re alarmed by foreign investment. President Trump has condemned himself — and the rest of us — to a never-ending and increasingly frantic game of trade policy Whack-a-Mole that he will never win.

Source: National Post January 30, 2017 19:18 UTC