New York Times columnist Joe Nocera believes “the numbers” provide a defense of the Export-Import Bank, the federal agency that pushes private capital into exports from other U.S. industries mostly by giving taxpayer-backed loan guarantees to foreign companies.
Ex-Im officials seem to think the numbers are in their favor, too. At last week’s annual conference for the agency, they populated the tables with glossy flyers containing the above numbers. I found the numbers misleading, and so if you mouse over Ex-Im’s figures, you’ll get some truer context.
