Economic transformation

“ Manufacturing and other industrial activities can proceed with greater vigor as the power situation improves in terms of competitiveness and productivity. We will champion exports as the key to sustainable economic growth. ”

“ They are pre-eminently qualified to stimulate a brisk traffic in goods under conditions hitherto determined by natural economy and both are significant in economic history as mile-stones along the route of rapid dissolution of old economic organisations, of social crises and of the development of modern conditions, that is to say of the development of commodity economy to begin with, and further of the production of capital. ”

“ It is the soberer, less dramatic business of administering resources and plants already in hand, of seeking to reestablish foreign markets for our surplus production, of meeting the problem of under consumption, of adjusting production to consumption, of distributing wealth and products more equitably, of adapting existing economic organizations to the service of the people. ”

“ The advantages claimed for the system are not merely the increase in product already spoken of and the greatest efficiency of the worker, but also the improvement in his material and moral standards, and the promotion of industrial peace by lessening discontent and friction. The main basis for the system, since it is economic and not philanthropic in its nature, must of course be the increase in production brought about by its adoption. ”

“ The challenge of greater productivity growth is of supreme importance to America's future. Only through productivity gains can real living standards be improved. Greater productivity growth is the cornerstone of price stability and sustained economic growth. ”

“ We will turn pressure into impetus for growth, unwaveringly protect and develop advanced productive forces, shut down backward production facilities, integrate factors of production and create more room for development. We will balance our efforts to sustain economic growth, adjust the structure and improve economic performance to raise the overall quality of the national economy and strengthen the basis for its further development.
Third, we must press ahead with reform to make the economy more vigorous. ”

“ The government and the international financial institutions have been engaged in a comprehensive medium-term poverty reduction and economic growth strategy. Further restructuring of domestic industry and success in attracting foreign investment are keys to future growth. ”

“ Combine these signs of economic confidence with a strong recovery in one industry after another—15 consecutive monthly increases in industrial production, business investments stronger than expected, growing research in science and technology, and a welcome rebirth of productivity growth, and we can understand how the United States economy created nearly 5 million jobs in the last 15 months and has become the engine for a new era of worldwide economic expansion. ”

“ Dismantling protectionist barriers and providing correct incentives and support shall make our industry more efficient and world competitive — and our exports, the spearhead for economic revival and growth. ”

“ The restoration of infrastructure and the raising of incomes in this ravaged economy depend on the implementation of sound macro- and micro-economic policies, including the encouragement of foreign investment, and generous support from donor countries. ”

“ But there is a distinction to be made between industrial efficiency and business prosperity. Americans have hitherto identified prosperity with a furious economic activity, and an ever-increasing economic product—regardless of genuine economy of production and any proper distribution of the fruits. ”

“ Capital offered facilities for the planting of new industries, the development of trade, and the opening up of mines and other natural advantages; so that the means lay at hand for promoting material progress of every kind. Hence new questions of economic policy came to the front. The efforts of traders were no longer confined to retaining exclusive commercial rights; but they began to consider how the various resources within a given area might be developed, so that by the interaction of different interests the greatest material prosperity might be attained in the community as a whole. ”

“ In any event, such speculative movements cannot be of long duration, as our economic development program goes into gear and the country’s production begins to fill the pipelines of commerce and to elevate the living standards of our people. ”

“ The efficiency of the new manufacturing processes has provided a large surplus of goods that must be taken somewhere, exchanged for food and raw materials, which must, in turn, be brought to the producers of manufactured goods. In the course of these transactions, a generous share of the values produced goes, in the form of profit, to the owners of the industry, another considerable portion goes into reinvestment, thus swelling the volume of productive capital.
The increased wealth, the larger capital and the greater amount of surplus all make possible the maintenance of a larger population. ”

“ Economic growth has liberated societies from the natural pressures that forced them into an immediate struggle for survival; but they have not yet been liberated from their liberator. The commodity’s independence has spread to the entire economy it now dominates. This economy has transformed the world, but it has merely transformed it into a world dominated by the economy. ”

“ Large corporations, which can afford the best machinery; which control abundant capital, and which can plan with scrupulous economy all the details of producing and selling an important product or service, are actually able to reduce the cost of production to a minimum; and in the cases of certain American corporations such results have actually been achieved. The new organization of American industry has created an economic mechanism which is capable of being wonderfully and indefinitely serviceable to the American people. ”

“ Commercial intercourse has increased enormously; the age of invention has brought about a veritable revolution in the processes of manufacture; and agriculture has been indirectly, but deeply, affected by these influences. Despite the growth, however, in the volume of trade, in the mass of wealth, and in the numbers of the population, similar principles of economic policy and commercial enterprise have been in vogue all this time. ”

“ The Conditions of Increasing Future Well-being.—The realization of this resultant of all dynamic forces requires that the rate of growth of population should be subject to a natural check, that the increase of capital should not be unduly retarded, that technical [Pg 320] improvements should go on, and that the organization which is effected should be of the kind which makes for efficiency but not for monopoly. Competition must be kept alive. ”

“ But it seems to me that our physical economic plant will not expand in the future at the same rate at which it has been expanded in the past. We may build more factories, but the fact remains that we have enough to supply all of our domestic needs, and more, if they are used. ”

“ In the short run, for most developing countries except the largest a new era of economic growth hinges on effective and coordinated economic management among major industrial countries designed to facilitate expansion, to educe real interest rates, and to halt the slide to protectionism. ”

“ These are some of the reasons why the economic life of the modern world has grown at haphazard. Each industrial director put his own ideas into his business, and as it grew in response to them, the various businesses differed as much in shape, size and character as did the early factory buildings.
The time seems to have arrived when a new working plan of economic life may be adopted. The faults and failures of the old are glaring and the clamor for the new is reasonable and insistent. ”

“ This continual process of invention and improvement, and the fertile resourcefulness of every workman and capitalist, their readiness to introduce every improvement without delay and without regard to expense, have contributed more to the enormous economic progress than all the protective tariff or even than the natural resources of the soil itself. ”

“ Over the past four and a half years, we’ve fought our way back from the worst recession of our lifetimes and begun to lay a foundation for stronger, more durable economic growth. Today, our businesses have created 7.3 million new jobs over the last 41 months. ”

“ To ensure success of the government's work this year, we must act on the following principles.
First, we must boost domestic demand to sustain economic growth. We need to steadfastly take reversing the downward trend in economic growth as the primary goal of macro control, and make boosting domestic demand a long-term strategic principle and a basic point of departure for stimulating economic growth. ”

“ Our industries have increased their use of local raw materials for the benefit of all, and as a result of our controversial but successful program of decontrol, substantial investments have been realized with the employment of both local and foreign capital so as to help establish the solid economic base for further growth. ”

“ Towards this end, public policies should learn from the experience of more advanced countries by encouraging the establishment of investment houses quite distinct from the mutual funds. This will further strengthen the financial basis of the economy and assure sources of long-term funds for desirable productive ventures.
D. Economic Nationalism and Trade
Even as we are making provisions for expanding production, we have attended to increasing outlets for our output. ”

“ The gradual introduction of an improvement is important, since it affords time for an increase in the social demand for the product which is thus cheapened and for introducing at many other points improvements which neutralize, in a large degree, the labor-expelling effect of the first improvement.
(4) Technical gains are the largest source of additions to the total amount of the social capital. The constant influx of new capital facilitates the placing of laborers at the points where they are needed. ”

“ We will take coordinated action that covers all sectors and focus on clear priorities, to deliver a solid performance in all areas of work.
1. Stepping up supply-side structural reform
In economic development we need to focus on the real economy. We will continue to cut overcapacity, reduce excess inventory, deleverage, lower costs, and strengthen areas of weakness. We will take big steps to streamline administration and cut taxes and fees, keep improving the business environment, and further energize market entities, to increase the quality of economic growth. ”

“ Far-reaching changes have taken place, of late, in the type of men who have held the reins of control over industry. During its early years the economic machinery was constructed by men who had worked at their trades ”

“ Fundamentally, development relies on reform and opening up. We must deepen reform across the board, uphold and improve the basic economic system, establish a modern system of property rights, and see that a rule of law government is basically in place. It should be ensured that the market plays the decisive role and the government better plays its role in resource allocation, and work should be accelerated to create the systems, mechanisms, and growth model that will guide the new normal in economic development. ”

“ In accordance with the requirement that we act fast, be forceful, take targeted measures and stress implementation, we promptly introduced ten measures to further boost domestic demand and promote economic growth, and implemented them without delay. We adopted a succession of policies and measures to encourage financial institutions to support economic development, promote sound development of the textile and other light industries and the real estate market, expand consumption by improving distribution, maintain steady growth in foreign trade, and keep the employment situation stable. ”

“ The economic unit, which is to be built into the new society as stones are built into a wall, must bear a very close relation to the present working forms of economic life.
Ultimately, the economic units of which society is composed will differ completely from those now existing. It is quite out of the question, however, to build a new economic structure and new economic units at the same time. ”

“ What clearly marked economic truth is brought into view by the successful issue of such an experiment as we have been advocating? This:—That there is a broad path open, through a creation of new wealth forms, to a new industrial system in which the productive forces of society and of nature may be used with far greater effectiveness than at present, and in which the distribution of the wealth forms so created will take place on a far juster and more equitable basis. Society may have more to divide among its members, and at the same time the greater dividend may be divided in a juster manner. ”

“ Industrial society is going through an evolution which is transforming its structure and all its activities. Four general changes are going on within the producing organization, and the resultant of them, under favorable conditions, should be an enrichment in which all classes would share. Population is increasing, capital is accumulating, technical methods are improving, and the organization of productive establishments is perfecting itself; while over against these changes in industry is an evolution in the wants of the individual consumer, whom industry has to serve. ”

“ The aim of the plan is to build up an economic structure that will be efficient and at the same time sufficiently elastic to meet the changing needs of the times. Production is always necessary, but the methods vary from one age to another. The changes which occur in the economic activities of a population must find their counterpart in the changing economic structure of that community, otherwise disorganization and chaos will inevitably result. ”