President Clinton won reelection in large measure because of the economy. Unemployment is the lowest in decades, inflation is low, GNP growth is steady, and the stock market is at historic levels. The lamentations of the 1970s and 1980s about the competitive decline of U.S. industry have disappeared from the political rhetoric. How to account for this turnaround?

The United States is prospering in the global technological economy because it is effectively employing the world's diverse resources. Most products are assembled from parts made in many different countries. Boeing aircraft, for example, are assembled in Seattle out of key components fabricated in Japan, Korea, Israel, and elsewhere. General Electric assembles washing machines in a highly automated plant in Louisville, Ky., but the electronics come from Mexico.