OECD’s 2004 review of the US economy examines the key challenges the US faces for sustaining economic growth.  In particular, the challenges of insuring fiscal sustainability and budget discipline, maintaining price stability, and improving confidence in financial markets are carefully analysed.  This edition’s special feature covers product market competition and economic performance.

Assessment and recommendations
I. Sustaining strong growth and social cohesion: key challenges
-The economic situation
-The policy stance
-Near-term prospects and risks
-Key challenges
-Bibliography
-Annex 1.1. Progress in structural reform
II. Ensuring fiscal sustainability and budgetary discipline
-The federal fiscal position and outlook
-Sub-federal budgets and joint federal-state programmes
-Longer-term challenges: imbalances in entitlement programmes
-Reinforcing budget discipline
-Bibliography
-Annex 2.1. Long-run effects of fiscal policies on national income
III. Maintaining price stability
-Avoiding deflation
-Challenges in communicating the policy stance
-Strengthening the policy framework
-Bibliography
IV. Improving confidence in financial markets
-Exchange-rate and stock-market developments
-Corporate governance and accounting reforms
-Bankruptcy and private pensions
-Distortions from government-sponsored enterprises
-The impact of Basel II
-Bibliography
V. Product market competition and economic performance
-Overview
-Competition legislation and enforcement
-Strong competitive forces have contributed to good economic performance
-Barriers to foreign trade are relatively low
-Intellectual property rights
-Regulatory policies and competition
-Concluding remarks
-Bibliography
-Annex 5.1. Prices for voice and electricity services
-Annex 5.2. California’s experience with reform of retail electricity markets
-Annex 5.3. Tort reform
-Annex 5.4. Public procurement