On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 00:35:07 GMT, Gunner wrote:
Thanks for the figures. Im not sure if they are telling the tale yet,
but I think it would be hard to figure out.

I keep hearing that 30% figure, and everytime someone uses it, its to
lead one to believe that its all going into swimming pools, and new
shoes for your kids etc etc.

A very large proportion of it goes into automobiles and things associated
with automobiles like roads, service garages, oil and gas, etc.

I rather suspect that a fair chunk of that 30% is being returned to
the rest of the planet in the form of aid, goods and services and
other associated bennies.

You'd have a hard time showing that. As I noted, only 7% of US
output is exported commercially, and foreign aid is a pittance as
a percentage of US output.

At one time, the US was the worlds foremost user of the worlds
aluminum, but I recall seeing that a very large chunk of it was
returned to the rest of the planet as finished goods and raw metals.
Given that the US is no longer the biggest manufacturing state, it
would seem that might purchase a big chunk of finished goods, but the
money is being given to the actual resource users, whom make the
goods.

Which makes people in the US the ultimate consumers of the resource.
It doesn't matter who builds it, it is the end user who winds up consuming
it.

Im having a hard time quantifying what Im trying to say here, dammit.

That's probably because it is difficult to find any evidence to support what
you're saying. In fact, available evidence says the contrary.

Gary