At a time when policy-makers worldwide favoured extensive government controls on economic activity, particularly within the financial system, Porter broke new ground by coming out strongly in favour of enhancing efficiency through the promotion of competition and freer markets. Competition is enhanced by expanding the scope of a given market.
One way to do this is to have our markets and institutions compete with those in other countries and to have foreign enterprises compete in our markets. Therefore, regulation needs to take international considerations and developments into account. I'll have more to say on this point in a few minutes.