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Early U.S. Trade Deficits and Industrialization
Trade deficits for the U.S. are nothing new. From 1800 to 1870, the U.S. ran a trade deficit for all but three years. While trade surpluses were persistent for the hundred years following that period, the country began to run trade deficits again around 1970 that has continued since. In a Regional Economist article, Assistant Vice President and Economist Yi Wen and Research Associate Brian Reinbold explored the link between industrialization and historical U.S. trade flows. They hypothesized that different phases of industrialization lead to structural changes that cause a nation’s comparative advantage to change ... (full story)