Something about that analysis seems suspect to me.
Imagine that I own a house.
You stay at my house for a night and pay me $1. Let's call it rent or whatever.
I then spend $3 on bricks and stuff and improve my house. My cash outflow is -$2.
The work done on my house improves the value of my house by $4 (consider this to be the "internal economy").
In that year then, my net worth has increased by $2.
That is to say that it seems possible to me that you could have a negative trade balance and still be winning as you're increasing your wealth at a rate faster than you give it away.
Am I missing something?