Leading Article: Up, up and away

Friday 30 April 1999 23:02 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

THE MORE it grows, tiddly pom, the more it grows, tiddly pom, the more it goes, tiddly pom, on growing. There is a fantastical, Winnie- the-Pooh-ish quality to the new figures for the United States economy. The most important consequence is that the engine of American growth is pulling the world out of the "meltdown" that seemed poised to engulf us all only a few months ago. A minor consequence is that this Government's bet on Britain not going into recession in the first quarter of this year has paid off.

It all looks as implausible as a honey-loving bear borne into the air by a balloon, but the stock-markets here and in the US race ahead. The valuation of Internet stocks, in particular, seem to defy gravity and logic - although it could be argued that the logic of free markets is that huge speculative profits attract investment capital into new technologies. Meanwhile all we can do is watch with prudent awe. The long run of steady US growth has to stop some time, but clearly that time is not yet.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in