If there is one economic

issue that drives me up the wall it has to be the trade deficit – not just its size but the fact that we talk so little about it.  Maybe you don’t pay attention to the trade numbers, but I am sure you’ve noticed that most every consumer good on our shelves is made in China or East Asia – including American flags.  Contrary to popular belief, the United States is a trading wimp that has run up trillions of dollars in trade deficits for thirty consecutive years. The evidence of our lack of competitiveness is littered in thousands of blighted communities from sea to shining sea that have been devastated by the loss of millions of manufacturing sector jobs since 2000. There’s a word for that – de-industrialization. If you want to rub a little salt into our Great Recession wound, here is little factoid that might shock you; the U.S. ran a trade surplus in nine of the 10 years of the Great Depression.

Now, before you overdose on Prozac, here is the good news – the trade deficit declined to $380 billion in 2009 about half of what it was in 2006. And the main reason for that was that recession-hammered American consumers restrained their appetites for imported goods and the weak dollar made our exports more attractive to foreign consumers.

So who was responsible for the trillions of dollars in trade deficits and the loss of millions of manufacturing jobs? The short answer is the American consumer. And who shrunk the deficit in 2009? Same answer – we did. Those two answers lead to a simple conclusion – it will be entirely up to patriotic consumers to continue reversing the trade imbalance. Here is a list of things you can do to help the cause and, while you’re at it, improve your finances.

1. Save energy. We’re importing close to 12 million barrels of oil each day. The less gas you burn, the less we’ll have to fork over for foreign oil. In 2009, the U.S. imported $204 billion in petroleum-based products. That accounted for more than half our trade deficit.

2. Check the label and be willing to pay just a little extra for a “Made in America” brand. The job you save maybe your own.

3. Keep your car longer. Even domestically manufactured cars have a high content of imported parts. If you really care about the environment and want to demonstrate your love of country, try doing without a second car.

4. Buy smaller houses. For one thing, you consume less energy when you live in a smaller home. For another, we import many of the materials that go into the construction of a house, from lumber to appliances and wiring.

5. Cut down on your electronics consumption. Virtually no TVs, audio equipment, computers, or gaming consoles are Made in America.. If you can do without that extra HDTV, just don’t buy it. Chances are you’ll do just fine by keeping that notebook computer for another year, even if the newer models are five ounces lighter.