Chart of the Day – 2.11.2009

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CHART OF THE DAY…. This is from Brad Setser. Chinese exports are down 17.5%, but imports are down a stunning 43%:

What worries me the most? The possibility that the sharp y/y fall in imports doesn’t just reflect a fall in imported components or a fall in commodity prices, but rather a major deceleration in China’s domestic economy….At a time when the world is short demand, China seems to be subtracting from global demand not adding to it. The best solution: an absolutely enormous domestic stimulus in China.

A massive stimulus in the United States is probably necessary, but it’s still a dicey proposition since we’re running a big trade deficit and need to curtail our domestic consumption in the long run. But China is running a big trade surplus, which makes it unproblematic for them to increase domestic consumption, and their economic growth last quarter was perilously close to zero. They’re the ones who really need to stimulate their economy. If the Chinese economy tanks, the rest of the world will get dragged down even further with it.

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We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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