For example, the annual growth rate has been as high as 6¼ per cent and as low as 1½ per cent; on two occasions, there has been a quarterly fall in GDP. But overall results have been very favourable: inflation has averaged 2.5 per cent per annum and we have seen the unemployment rate fall from 10.9 per cent to 5.1 per cent.
To be sure, an added few years may enable some workers to reach retirement with dignity, but it will also keep frozen in place younger workers whose better job opportunities decline with time. I regret that trade policy has been inextricably linked with job creation. We try to promote free trade on the mistaken ground that it will create jobs.