It was not clear how much of last year's very rapid growth could be attributed to special tax incentives for equipment spending that expired at the end of last year; those incentives could have been inducing businesses to pull forward spending into 2004.
Had it not been for technological innovation, and particularly increases in computing power, the kinds of products which enable a business to manage its interest rate, foreign exchange rate, and funding risks could never have been developed. These products are now so commonplace that we tend to take them for granted. We forget just how important they have become to well-managed businesses.