Understanding the U.S. Econonmy: Alan Greenspan on Free Markets, Economics (1999)

The United States is the world's second largest trading nation.[314] There is a large amount of U.S. dollars in circulation all around the planet; about 60% of funds used in international trade are U.S. dollars. The dollar is also used as the standard unit of currency in international markets for commodities such as gold and petroleum.[315] In 2013, U.S. exports goods and services amounted to $2.27 trillion and imports goods and services amounted to $2.74 trillion, with a trade deficit was $450.3 billion.[15] The deficit on petroleum products was $232 billion. The trade deficit with China was $318 billion in 2013,[316] a new record and up from $304 million in 1983.[317] U.S. Trade in Goods and Services 1960–2010. The United States had a $231 billion surplus on trade in services, and $703 billion deficit on trade in goods in 2013.[15] China has expanded its foreign exchange reserves, which included $1.6 trillion of U.S. securities as of 2013.[318] In 2010, the ten largest trading partners of the U.S. were Canada, China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, France, Taiwan, and Brazil.[319] According to the KOF Index of Globalization and the Globalization Index by A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine, the U.S. has a relatively high degree of globalization. U.S. workers send a third of all remittances in the world. The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions.[321] Several countries use it as their official currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. The federal government attempts to use both monetary policy (control of the money supply through mechanisms such as changes in interest rates) and fiscal policy (taxes and spending) to maintain low inflation, high economic growth, and low unemployment. A private central bank, known as the Federal Reserve, was formed in 1913 to supposedly provide a stable currency and monetary policy. The U.S. dollar has been regarded as one of the more stable currencies in the world and many nations back their own currency with U.S. dollar reserves.[31][32] The U.S. dollar has maintained its position as the world's primary reserve currency, although it is gradually being challenged in that role.[323] Almost two-thirds of currency reserves held around the world are held in US dollars, compared to around 25% for the next most popular currency, the Euro.[324] Rising US national debt and quantitative easing has caused some to predict that the US Dollar will lose its status as the world's reserve currency, however these predictions have not come to fruition. The United States ranked 4th in the Ease of Doing Business Index in 2012, 18th in the Economic Freedom of the World index by the Fraser Institute in 2012, 10th in the Index of Economic Freedom by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation in 2012, 15th in the 2014 Global Enabling Trade Report,[326] and 3rd on the Global Competitiveness Report.[327] According to the 2014 Index of Economic Freedom, released by the Wall Street Journal and Heritage Foundation, the US has dropped out of the top 10 most economically free countries. The US has been on a steady 7 year economic freedom decline and is the only country to do so.[328] The index measures each nation's commitment to free enterprise on a scale of 0 to 100. Countries losing economic freedom and receiving low index scores are at risk of economic stagnation, high unemployment rates, and diminishing social conditions.[329][330] The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom gave the United States a score of 75.5 and is listed as the 12th freest economy in world. It dropped two rankings and its score is half a point lower than in 2013. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_United_States