But pragmatism and crisis management are not enough over time. We need a leap forward in the extent of cooperation. The foundations for such a leap forward have strengthened considerably. Price stability has improved greatly in the trilateral countries in recent years. General philosophical orientations have converged, with more emphasis on market orientation in economic policies.
Some growth is underway in all three regions.
The remarkable Group of Five meeting at the Plaza Hotel in September 1985 indicated that the outlines of appropriate economic strategy are widely recognized, and led to changes in exchange rates that helped restore a degree of confidence in the abilitv of governments, acting together, to influence events. We must not overestimate what the G-5 meeting and other recent events have accomplished, however. What was essentially crisis management must be turned into systematic cooperation on a continuing basis. The heart of this report is in the following essays that examine a central challenge for each partner. C. Fred Bergsten analyzes the wide swings in American participation in management of the world economy.