Germany's surplus is 9% of GDP, and it didn't happen by accident. It is the result of Schroeder's Agenda 2010, balanced budgets, and forced depression in the periphery of the EMU bringing the euro way down. Where were the liberal economists during the Obama years raising a stink for Obama to show Schauble and Merkel who was boss in the West? And for this matter, where were our beloved economists from 1998 - 2011, when China used every tactic known to beggar-thy-neighbor, including industrial policy, currency manipulation, repressed fixed interest rates, and subsidies. Note: other nations mimicked China's practices. Is there any evidence Bush or Obama ever cared? This doesn't mean Trump does, but it answers big questions.