Excluding those two countries, our exports to the Pacific Rim have fallen 20 percent from a year ago. Let me be clear. These numbers do not mean we are headed into the Great Depression. A lot of the world's economies may be struggling, but the U.S. economy is still in very good shape. The business community has added almost 17 million jobs since President Clinton took office.
Inflation is at historic lows.
The fact is one third of our growth since the President came to office has been due to exports. And now that exports are not expanding, our own expansion is being challenged. But it matters what happens outside our borders when Coke sells in 200 countries. It matters when Gillette does more than 60 percent of its business outside the United States. Recently I was with Lou Gerstner of IBM, and he made this very point with regards to the Internet.