That's remarkable considering that back in 1992, Gore was furious at Summers for issuing what Gore thought were anti-environmentalist statements as chief economist for the World Bank. But since then, Summers has been one of the architects of the successful Clinton-Gore economic policy that produced the type of prosperity that is probably Gore's best hope of winning the election. He was also generous with his time for Roll Call, answering questions from Executive Editor Morton Kondracke in between White House briefings on the new, mushrooming U.S. budget surplus. Large and rising. So aspects of the new economy are permeating almost every sector of the economy.
Nobody can make good predictions.
That will lead to an economy where products are ever better tailored to customers' needs. Quantitatively, the new economy will be a place where productivity growth is more rapid than it has been and where, for a time, the trade-off between inflation and unemployment will be more favorable. Qualitatively, the new economy is a place where businesses will compete differently. So much of what is being produced will be knowledge. It costs a great deal to develop, it costs very little to distribute at the margin.