America's new economy

The illusion of a "new economy", freed from the constraints preventing trees from growing up to the sky and technical innovations from spreading with the speed of light, has vanished. But the loss of this illusion must not be allowed to obscure the reality. Only 15 years ago, the American economy, threatened with financial suffocation, seemed condemned to no more than mediocre growth. Today, of all the developed economies, it is the one with the highest growth potential and the most solid financial system. This transformation is the fruit neither of a technological miracle nor of doctrinaire liberalism. It is the result of a steady flow of investment that has gradually enabled the American economy to return to the path of technical progress. It is also the result of the financial makeover that is now providing the economy with powerful mechanisms enabling it to stabilise its rate of growth. And, finally, it is the result of increasingly resolute and judicious policies enabling the economy to remain close to full employment. It is the major features of this new American economy we intend to describe here : Europe could perhaps learn some lessons from it.