These movements have triggered important shifts in economic activity and reallocations of production resources across sectors and regions of our economy. Following the Asian crisis, we saw a shift out of commodities and into manufacturing. Now we see a shift in the opposite direction. And the current intense competition from Asia is clearly evident in reduced prices for manufactured consumer goods.
Adjusting to these shocks has not been easy – indeed, for many firms and their workers it has been downright painful. Still, as I said earlier, total output and employment have continued to grow at a good clip over the past decade - averaging 3 and 2 per cent a year, respectively.