Nonetheless, as I indicated earlier, I would not deny that there doubtless has been in recent years an underlying improvement in the functioning of America’s markets and in the pace of development of cutting edge technologies beyond previous expectations.
Most impressive is the marked increase in the effectiveness in the 1990s of our capital stock, that is, our productive facilities, the issue to which I alluded earlier. While gross investment has been high, it has been, in recent years, composed to a significant extent of short-lived assets that depreciate rapidly.