Chicago, IL August 13, 2008— Statement from Jason Furman, Obama Campaign Economic Policy Director, on the new trade deficit numbers: “While Senator McCain may believe that the small reduction in the trade deficit represents great progress in an economy he thinks is doing just fine, Barack Obama believes that America can do better than a $693 billion trade deficit over the last year. We cannot afford another four years of the massive trade deficits we’ve had under President Bush – trade deficits that Senator McCain’s economic policies would only make worse.

Instead, we need to change our economic policies by investing in education, new energy jobs, and technology so that we can strengthen the productivity of our workers and businesses; by enforcing our existing trade agreements and negotiating better trade agreements; and by reducing record budget deficits and raising low savings rates so that America does not have to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars annually from abroad.”