Commercial Competition And Control: A US View

Abstract

As the world’s largest economy, the United States confronts a major challenge as it adjusts to the competitive realities of the late 1980s and beyond. That challenge involves our ability to retain hard-won domestic successes — i.e., low inflation, declining interest rates, and robust job growth — while improving our international economic performance. In the face of large trade and current account deficits, this will be a major task. Careful application of America’s competitive strengths, however, should enable the United States to accomplish just that.

Adjunct Professor, Boston University; Senior Minority Economist, Joint Economic Committee, US Congress. The author drew primarily from the President’s Competitiveness Initiative, the Economic Report of the President, and the Committee’s assessment.