Even though we are surrounded by scores of information sources, the sheer number is enough to make one go numb. Factoids will be posted periodically to bring you bits of news which may or may not catch your fancy. Most of the Factoids will be posted to bring you counter-intuitive information which may not be covered by traditional news sources; Question: why aren’t they covered? Possibly they may go against the grain of political or cultural “acceptable” thought. Or, perhaps because they cannot fit into the thirty-second sound bites without raising more questions than they answer. Hopefully you will find some of them of interest!
- Definition: The trade-to-GDP ratio is an indicator of the relative importance of international trade in the economy of a country. It is calculated by dividing the aggregate value of imports and exports over a period by the gross domestic product for the same period. Although called a ratio, it is usually expressed as a percentage. Definition source: Wikipedia
The US’s trade-to-GPR is only 25%. Other nations have a larger ratio, such as China, Russia and Japan which vary from 38 to 47%. Western Europe is in worse condition with France and the U.K. at about 70% and Germany is at 100%. (FT, 2/17-18, pp18)
What does that mean? The smaller the percentage, the less a nation is dependent on foreign trade; the old dream of national autarky (a policy of national self-sufficiency and non-reliance on imports or economic aid) could be realized. The downside of autarky is a smaller economy but a smaller percentage means that a nation has more leverage over trading partners, and they are less likely to give into a weaker nation demands. Since WWII, the U.S. has built numerous institutions (the U.N., NATO, the IMF, etc.) which has been more of a benefit to other nations than to the U.S.. Given the frictions in the world today, it is clear that our allies need the U.S. much more than we need them and that is a power that the U.S. will continue to wield as long as the U.S. is seen as a stable shelter for capital and investments. Politicalization of national institutions, such as the FBI, CIA, DOJ is a threat to the perception of a stable national order.
- Government “Improper Payments”: According to the GAO (3/26/2024), for FY 2023 the federal government made an estimated $236,000,000,000 (billion) in “improper payments”. They roughly break out in the following manner:
- 74% or $175 billion to deceased individuals or those who no longer qualify for government programs.
- $11.5 billion were underpayments.
- $44.6 billion were unknown payments, meaning the government has no idea is the payment was in error or not.
- $4.6 billion where a recipient was entitled but the incorrect statute or regulation was used.
Do you want the good news or the bad news?
- The good news is that this figure is about $11 billion less than the prior year.
- The bad news is that over the past 20 years, the government has made about $2.7 trillion in such improper payments.
About 79% ($186 billion) was concentrated in five program areas: Medicare, Medicaid, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, the Earned Income Tax Credit and Paycheck Protection Program. It is not clear how many billions went to federal prisoners, foreign individuals, foreign corporations, etc.
The federal government is seeking to hire tens of thousands of individuals for the IRS; perhaps we would all be better off of instead of focusing on U.S. taxpayers, those agents focus on the individuals/corporations/etc. who scammed us and on tightening up the sloppy bookkeeping and management at the various federal agencies. When the employees are unionized, protected by civil service and contribute to the politicians who control the budgets of the agencies, don’t be surprised that this type of sloppy work is allowed to continue.
As Illinois Everett Dirksen of the U.S. Senate use to say: “A billion here, a billion there and soon you are talking about real money”.
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