CHAPTER 12

Supporting Economic Freedom and Pro-Growth Policies

In my view one of the most important ways that the international community can support governments that promote economic freedom and pro-growth policies is to support the policy makers in those communities. Good economic policy can be very contagious. If economic officials in the United States and other countries candidly praise good policy in developing or emerging market countries when they see it, they can help with the contagion.

The speeches selected for this section are just a few of this variety. They do not need much introduction. The first three praise the Brazilian economic leaders for their recent reforms in the fiscal and monetary areas. The innovative U.S.-Brazil Group for Growth encourages such policy reforms.

Chile has long been encouraging economic freedom and their massive reduction in poverty shows it. These reforms are why Chile was the first country in Latin America to have a free trade agreement with the United States. Item 3 discusses the innovative chapter in that agreement that preserves the freedom to move capital, both long-term and short-term.

The economic reforms (fighting corruption, lowering tax rates) brought in by the Rose Revolution in Georgia are a site worth seeing and certainly praising as I did when I made a second trip there last November (Item 6). The economic reforms pushed through by Finance Minister Netanyahu were also bold and worthy of the praise we gave them on a visit to Jerusalem in 2003 (Item 7).

Like Chile the economic freedom being pursued in India and Korea have been showing benefits for many years, but are still worth pointing out.

Fortunately I could go on and on: the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, Jordan, Pakistan, Ghana, Madagascar, El Salvador, Mexico,…

Brazil

1. Economic Leadership in Brazil and the United States, Brazil-U.S. Business Council, Washington, D.C., January 27, 2003

2. Economic Policy and the U.S.- Brazil Group for Growth, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Washington, D.C., January 20, 2004

3. United States-Brazil Cooperation to Increase Economic Growth, Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York City, April 27, 2004

Chile

4. Financial Services and Capital Transfer Provisions in Recent Free Trade Agreements, Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology of the House Committee on Financial Services, April 1, 2003

5. Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in Chile, Public Statement during Visit to Chile, Santiago, September 2, 2004

Georgia

6. Economic Freedom and Georgia’s Rose Revolution, Remarks at the Caucasus Business School, Tbilisi, Georgia, Nov 22, 2004

Israel

7. Israel's Economic Recovery Program, Israel-America Chamber of Commerce, Jerusalem, Israel, June 22, 2003

India

8. Remarks on Conclusion of Visit to India, Mumbai, India, December 8, 2004

9. From Karnataka to California: The Challenges of State Fiscal Reform in a Federated System, Bangalore, India, Dec 7, 2004

10. India and the World Economy, Remarks at the World Economic Forum’s India Economic Summit, New Delhi, India, Dec 5, 2004

Korea

11. The United States and the World Economy: Current Situation and Prospects, Seoul, Korea, October 23, 2002