OK, here is another shot at trying to decide what we in the U.S. are true experts about and therefore export more of than any other country. I don’t claim to be a sage about this sort of thing but I think I am on to something with this one.

Is there a commodity that the U.S. exports much more of than any other country?

Could our number one export be our Consumerism? Maybe its our Marketing? Maybe it is both: Consumerism/Marketing.

This it kind of like the chicken/egg type thing. I don’t know which spurred the other but the result is the same. We simply must have whatever is the latest “in” item. If we are buying a home it simply must have granite counter tops, cherry cabinets, and stainless steel appliances. Everything else is totally unacceptable! If it is clothes is must be from the latest “in” designer. Of course our blue jeans cost $100 per pair; anything else makes us look cheap. Our cars have to have the top of the line foreign models with bluetooth, wi-fi, in-dash gps, and two DVD player. Anything else will just not show the world what we are. How about super white teeth; bleach baby bleach (no matter that our teeth will crumble in our mouths in a decade or so..)

Of course having to have the latest and best is not a new thing with us but we seem to have gotten it fine-tuned now. When the marketeers decide we need something else we will quickly jump on the band wagon. If we want to claim that we are the biggest exporter of consumerism/marketing we have to make sure that we downplay the dark side of this export and that is consumer debt. We are far and above number one in that area too.  The average U.S. family has almost an $11,000 credit card balance of which we are paying in excess of 18% annual interest. The cumulative U.S. family debt makes our federal deficits seem like pocket-money.

But what do I know….