Gates huddles with Clinton hours after verdict

Less than 48 hours after Bill Clinton’s Attorney General won a guilty

verdict against Microsoft, Bill Gates and other top industry leaders and

economists joined the President for a day-long summit to determine what could

derail the supercharged American economy and ways to prevent that from

happening. Gates met privately with Clinton prior to the start of he summit, but

the subject of the antitrust case was reportedly not raised.

One of the presentations at the summit was made by Federal Reserve Chairman

Alan Greenspan who warned of "imbalances" in the American economy caused by

dwindling supply of available workers and a soaring trade deficit ($267 billion

in 1999).

Clinton last held an economic summit in 1992 while still president-elect.

That summit set the stage for the largest economic expansion in U.S. history. At

the time the main themes were the reduction of the huge budget deficits and ways

to stimulate job growth in the aftermath of the Cold War.

Clinton said he believes that technological advances offer the best hope for

continued prosperity, not only for the United States but also impoverished

nations. "I believe the computer and the Internet give us a chance to move more

people out of poverty more quickly than at any time in all of human

history."

Clinton warmly praised billionaire Bill Gates for the "phenomenal

commitments" he and his wife have made in contributing $750 million to fight

global poverty and health problems. Greenspan, generally regarded as the chief

engineer behind the booming U.S. economy, warned that continued huge U.S.

Federal trade deficits, reflecting strong consumer demand, could become a

liability if foreigners suddenly decide they no longer want to invest in U.S.

assets such as the stock market. "The significant uncertainties surrounding

these new economic forces counsel prudence. We need to be careful to keep

inflationary pressures contained."

Greenspan’s Federal Reserve has raised interest rates five times in the

past six months in an effort to slow the U.S. economy from a growth rate of

around 7 per cent to a more desirable 3.5 per cent.

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