Monday, August 8, 2011

How Much Does China Contribute to the US Economy?

Via Paul Kedrosky, here is an informative Fed Letter:
Goods and services from China accounted for only 2.7% of U.S. personal consumption expenditures in 2010, of which less than half reflected the actual costs of Chinese imports. The rest went to U.S. businesses and workers transporting, selling, and marketing goods carrying the "Made in China" label. Although the fraction is higher when the imported content of goods made in the United States is considered, Chinese imports still make up only a small share of total U.S. consumer spending. This suggests that Chinese inflation will have little direct effect on U.S. consumer prices.
Even 1.35% of the US Economy is significant. But it's a vastly different picture than one gets in the popular media, where Chinese-made goods have seemingly entirely displaced all American production.

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