Less widely recognized is that imports, too, contribute greatly to our economic well being. It is interesting to compare our economic performance of the last six years with the economic performance of other industrialized nations that are less open. Study after study has shown that more open economies enjoy stronger growth, and that is certainly evident here. We have low unemployment, rising wages across the board B and we have the most open markets among the major economies. Europe and Japan are far less open than the United States, and the major economies of continental Europe have had persistent unemployment of 10 to 12 percent or greater, and Japan, now in recession for over a year, has been virtually stagnant for roughly eight years.
All nations benefit from a vibrant trading system.
Mr. Chairman, as you well know, for the last year and a half the global economy has experienced a financial crisis severely affecting countries around the world. While our economy has performed very well despite the crisis, there are certain sectors that have been substantially affected B most notably, steel, because of increased imports, and agriculture and aircraft, because of decreased world demand. The risks of that crisis continue, despite some positive developments in recent months, as do the risks to us from that crisis. To protect the economic prosperity of our country, and to restore the well being of affected sectors, we have been and continue to be enormously focused on the effort to restore stability and growth to troubled parts of the world. In this regard, we have been working bilaterally as well as with the IMF, the World Bank, the MDBs, and others to meet these important objectives.