"I AGREE WITH SECRETARY BAKER'
The global economic upheavals of the 1970s and 1980s have taught us to look out beyond national boundaries. The international merchandize and financial markets carry economic fluctuations, such as the swings in oil prices and the dollar rate, all round the world. International cooperation has become at once more necessary and more difficult than ever. It is generally agreed that the industrial countries must cooperate to guarantee the smoothest possible growth of the world economy. But there is sometimes disagreement as to which national contributions are most likely to overcome global economic disequilibria. The growth prospects for the world economy today are better than many people would have dared to hope only a few years ago. We owe this primarily to the progress towards stability, which the world's principal currencies have made since then. The major problems which beset us today are the relatively high level of unemployment in the industrial countries, the debt crisis and sluggish growth in the developing countries, the big current account imbalances and the instability of the dollar.
To say that today's growth creates tomorrow's jobs is a truism. With a prospective growth rate of 2 1/2 to 3% this year, Germany will be near the top of the league of the industrialized countries.