One of the hallmarks of a primitive economy is that its exports consist mostly of natural resources. Under-developed nations export their metals, timber, minerals and such because they are too economically incompetent to make much use of these valuable resources themselves. Instead, they trade them to more advanced economies in exchange they get cash which they used to buy finished goods or high-technology products that they cannot make themselves.

Advanced economies, by contrast, have businesses that are more than capable of making use of those raw materials. In fact, really efficient economies will grow until they have consumed not only the raw materials available locally, but also raw materials gathered from great distances abroad. Only an efficient, competitive economy can afford to import such items, since it costs quite a bit to transport most raw materials, which tend to be bulky. Local businesses will always be able to pay the lowest costs for local materials. When a distant competitor can outbid them for these local treasures, it is because the distant enterprise is so efficient that it can pay more for the raw material, pay to ship it long distances and still sell the finished goods at a greater profit.

Thus, it can be said that the strength of an economy can be measured by the the maximum distance over which transport costs can be absorbed and profit can still be made. Incompetent economies cannot even compete for materials from their own location, let alone outbid other nations for resources from afar.

This effect can be seen quite clearly in the rise of the Asian economies in the last 50 years. Asia once exported chiefly commodities, such as rubber, timber, minerals, and agricultural products. Now Asia exports far more advanced finished goods -- and scours the globe from Africa to Alberta to Australia for the iron ore, copper, platinum, molybdenum, and petroleum it needs to do so. The measure of Asia’s new strength is the measure of its appetite for resources. Few would bother to argue with this obvious point: China now needs to import materials to feed its growing economy.

Strangely though, people will argue a similar point when it comes to America “needing” to import one raw material: oil. Allegedly, importing oil means we are not energy “independent.” When it comes to oil (and oil alone) the fact that America’s economy can productively utilize so much of it is sold to us as evidence of weakness, dependency and profligacy. This is especially strange because no raw material is more universally needed than energy – yet America can out-compete most of the world for access to this most precious of resources.

How frequently have we heard America indicted by claims that it has only 5 percent of the world’s population but uses 25 percent of its oil? This fact should be held up as a boast, not a criticism. As judged by petroleum utilization, America’s economy is five times more productive than average.

America’s oil imports are especially impressive because it is not a country that lacks resources. America is the third-largest oil producer on Earth, yet not only can it find a profitable use for all its oil, but it can go out on the world market and scoop up oil from near and far, load it in ships, haul it back to the U.S. and profitably use that as well. It is not weakness that makes America import oil, it is economic appetite.

Consider that America and Russia have nearly equivalent oil production. Yet America needs to import 12,000,000 barrels of oil per day, while Russia exports two thirds of her production. On a per capita basis, Russia uses less than one-third as much oil as the U.S.

Why? Is it because Russia is worried about energy dependence or keeping per capita consumption modest? No. It’s because Russia’s economy cannot figure out how to use its own oil effectively. So Russia sells it to Japan, China, and other nations that can. Russia is an oil exporter because it is economically weak. America is an oil importer because it is economically powerful.

Increased production of natural resources is almost always always desirable, but for vibrant, large economies like America’s, energy independence is likely both impossible and undesirable. We will always grow beyond our local resources – until we are no longer a great economy. Then we will be energy independent at last.