US Trade Deficit? Applaud, Don't Fret!

Walter Williams shows his genius again, in discussing the "trade deficit" that he's running with his grocer. It turns out that every week he gives his grocer $100, but his grocer never purchases anything from poor Williams. By the end of the year, Williams has a "trade deficit" with his grocer of $4,800! Williams has become "dependant" on his grocer for providing him with food!

But wait: Every week that same grocer gives Williams $100 worth of groceries. By the end of the year, that grocer has given $4,800 worth of groceries to Williams, and the grocer has become "dependant" on Williams for cash!

Horrors! It seems like just a few years ago that same grocer was starving on the streets, bothering Williams, begging for money. Now the bastard's taking $4,800 a year from Williams? And all Williams gets in return is a bunch of lousy groceries that he values at $4,800! What if that grocer now decides to cut Williams off, to starve Williams to death? Afterall, Williams has since sold off his bread-baking oven and beer-making equipment, so dependant has he become on that damned grocer for his bread and beer.

Question: Why should Williams now have less -- much less -- to fear from that grocer now that the grocer has become Williams food supplier rather than a hungry unemployed guy on the street? Answer: The grocery is now dependant on a prosperous, happy, safe Williams to give him (the grocer) cash for food. And with that grocer now having money to spend (and no more begging), Williams now has an opportunity to develop his own good or service to sell to that grocer.