Decision Points, by Pres. George W. Bush: on Free Trade

George W. Bush: Free market provides fairest way to allocate resources

My experiences in business school, China, and the oil business wer converging into a set of convictions: The free market provided the fairest way to allocate resources. Lower taxes rewarded hard work and encouraged risk taking. Eliminating barriers to trade created new export markets for American producers & more choice for our consumers. Government should respect its constitutional limits.

When I looked at Pres. Carter & the Democratic Congress, I saw the opposite. They had plans to raise taxes & substitute federal spending for private-sector job creation. I worried about America drifting left, toward a version of welfare-state Europe, where central government planning crowded out free enterprise. I wanted to do something about it. I was having my first experience with the political bug, and it was biting hard.

George W. Bush: Don't block agreements based on nativism & isolationism

George W. Bush: AGOA: eliminate tariffs on most African exports

To further boost African economies, we worked with G-8 partners to cancel more than $34 billion in debt from poor African countries. The initiative built on the substantial debt relief President Clinton had secured. A report by Bono's DATA organization concluded that debt relief has allowed African nations to send 42 million more children to school.

One vital economic initiative was the African Growth and Opportunity Act, which eliminated tariffs on most African exports to the US. Pres. Clinton signed AGOS; I worked with Congress to expand it.

I saw its impact firsthand when I met entrepreneurs in Ghana who exported their products to the US. A dressmaker named Esther told me, "I'm helping other women, and I'm helping my family too."