Who Knew? Countries that Make Stuff Are Better Off than Countries that Play the Market

Those Germans. First they win the World Cup, and now they’re ranked #1 in trade. Germany has a trade surplus of $257 billion (a sign of a truly robust economy.) In contrast, the US is DEAD LAST on the list of 193 countries in the CIA World Factbook, with a trade deficit of $361 billion. Who knew that a highly unionized country with a solid manufacturing…