I finally comment on the trade balance issue

Interest payments equalize imports and imports. The whole discussion of imports vs exports is moot.What matters is total trade volume, wealthy countries have liquid markets. When trade volume is high then the complexity of the economy increases, we call that getting wealthy.Adam Smith maybe right about the motivation, but neglected to point out that at equilibrium trade volume is high and interest payments cover the mismatch between on yield curve and another.Why not state the truth, free trade forces fiscal responsibility,  and that is the goal of free traders.

Mark Perry is off on his tangent that imports are good (true but unnecessary to state).  The whole debate masks another debate: How does free trade enforce fiscal responsibility?