The illusion of a "new economy", freed from the

constraints preventing trees from growing up to the sky

and technical innovations from spreading with the speed

of light, has vanished. But the loss of this illusion must

not be allowed to obscure the reality. Only 15 years ago,

the American economy, threatened with financial

suffocation, seemed condemned to no more than mediocre

growth. Today, of all the developed economies, it is the

one with the highest growth potential and the most solid

financial system. This transformation is the fruit neither

of a technological miracle nor of doctrinaire liberalism. It

is the result of a steady flow of investment that has

gradually enabled the American economy to return to the

path of technical progress. It is also the result of the

financial makeover that is now providing the economy

with powerful mechanisms enabling it to stabilise its rate

of growth. And, finally, it is the result of increasingly

resolute and judicious policies enabling the economy to

remain close to full employment. It is the major features

of this new American economy we intend to describe

here : Europe could perhaps learn some lessons from it.