TEXT D The government’s economic
report came out the other day, and it shows the Gross Domestic Product--the
GDP--was up more than 7.2 percent.., the highest one-quarter jump in 20 years.
But the GDP is a measure of what HAS happened. The question is: what about the
future Well, the same day the GDP report came out, the Atlanta Business
Chronicle was reporting increased profits from several of Atlanta’s largest
corporations: BellSouth, Southern Company, Georgia Pacific, Equifax, Agco. UPS
(United Parcel Service) showed a 28 percent increase, and that one is especially
important because shipping companies are generally recognized as early
indicators of things to come in the business world. And, sure enough, the
economists arc already predicting a strong fourth quarter. One of the best, the
Conference Board, is indicating very good economic news way out ahead.
The politicians, of course, are contending it is the government that
causes the economy to ebb and flow. The Republicans are boasting the Bush tax
cuts, and no doubt that had some impact in creating the good news ... but how
much The Democrat presidential candidates arc unanimously insisting it is not
good news at all because we haven’t created as many new jobs as we should have,
and anyway, if Al Gore were president and we had not cut those taxes, the
government would have had more money to put into special programs, and the
economy would have come back faster. It seems to me everybody is
overlooking the dynamic nature of America’s competitive free enterprise system.
This nation’s economy has been through some severe jolts the last few years: the
dot com bust, corporate scandals, 9-11 and a couple of wars, severe new
competition from all over the world, not to mention the natural business cycle.
It has been American business that has made the hard decisions, along with the
tough and often unpleasant adjustments. And not all businesses survived. Now,
who is bringing the economy back Let me suggest it is the unheralded
risk-takers and managers and workers who make up the American free-enterprise
system ... that’s who. Why is the UPS (United Parcel Service) increasingly important
A．Because it makes up the major part of American economy. B．Because it indicates the good economic news. C．Because it helps to predict other events in the business. D．Because it affects the performance of other industry.