The Nation - News from Jan. 29, 1988

Nearly all the 13 candidates for President agree that U.S. problems in competing in the world economy begin at home rather than with other countries, according to a report released by the nonpartisan Council on Competitiveness, but many of them came under fire by analysts with the group for failing to address the nation’s economic dilemmas seriously. “The real issue of competitiveness is not ‘Are you better off than you were four years ago?’ but ‘Will you be better off four years from now--or will your children be better off in 40 years?’ ” said Lawrence Summers, a leading economist at Harvard University. On that issue, Summers said the candidates’ “intentions were better than their arithmetic. The beef is not all there.” The council is an outgrowth of a 1985 White House commission that includes top officials of more than a hundred corporations, labor unions and universities.