More than six decades ago, representatives of 45 nations convened in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, to consider the devastating isolationist and “beggar-thy-neighbour” economics that contributed to the second world war. Representatives agreed not to repeat the past. They designed policies and institutions for mutual growth, development and prosperity.

These policies laid the foundation for today’s global economy. It is one of free trade and global capital markets. It is an economy of nearly limitless potential, with new markets and partners offering opportunities for American growth and jobs. Yet today, as in 1944, global economic growth is only as good as the policies that guide it.