

trade deficits are NOT the same as a net negative spending balance
I never said they were, genius. The point of highlighting the deficit is twofold: first, to expose how lopsided our trade agreements are, with our so-called “allies” benefiting far more than we do; and second, to showcase how badly domestic production is failing to meet demand. The best way to correct that? Tariffs. They reduce the imbalance and incentivise bringing production back home. But sure, keep pretending it’s not an issue while we hemorrhage jobs and industry to foreign nations.
The US and UK are the only countries that DID ask of Ukraine to sign the Budapest Memorandum in exchange for military support.
Have you actually read the Memorandum? No, you haven’t. And it shows. It also included Russia, and it never guaranteed military support - it guaranteed that Ukraine’s borders and sovereignty would be respected and that we wouldn’t infringe upon them, except in self-defense. And funnily enough, that’s exactly what Russia did in 2014 after Ukraine spent years antagonising them with NATO ambitions (e.g. the 2008 Bucharest Summit) despite NATO giving assurances it wouldn’t expand eastward past Germany during its reunification talks. But go off with your revisionist history.
You can’t believe everything your news echo chamber tells you just because it seems to make sense that negative numbers are bad.
Likewise, kiddo. Maybe try doing some real research before regurgitating whatever narrative makes you feel smart. It takes actual knowledge to understand why these policies exist, and right now, you’re just embarrassing yourself by parroting surface-level takes with zero depth.
My god you’re dense. I’ve already explained everything clearly and twice so far. I’ll put it in very simple to understand words for you:
Trade Deficit = Deindustrialisation and Job Loss
Trade Surplus = Industrialisation and Job Growth
For someone who claims to have an understanding of macroeconomics, you clearly very much don’t. 🤦🏼
And I’ll reiterate: the Memorandum did not guarantee military support, and yet, we’ve been providing it for the last three years for free despite them breaking their own agreement and infringing on Russia’s border security. They poked the bear, FAFO’d. The only way Ukraine keeps their sovereignty is through diplomacy and, most likely, complete detachment from NATO.