Recognizing the critical importance of the provision of credit to businesses and households from financial institutions, the Congress passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act last fall. Under the authority granted by this act, the Treasury purchased preferred shares in a broad range of depository institutions to shore up their capital bases.
But the secular dominance of the US domestic market makes American firms and policymakers alike primarily inward-looking. Europe does still consist of sovereign states, but every one has a strong propensity for foreign trade, historically rooted both in corporate strategies and in economic policy philosophy.