July 27, 2007

9:46 A.M.

THE PRESIDENT: I want to thank my economic advisors¹ for joining me here in the Cabinet [sic] today. We've had a wide range of discussions about a lot of aspects of our economy. I appreciate the Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Treasury² and others for giving me their opinions about the events of day.

And what they're saying -- one of the important pieces of data that I've been briefed on is the fact that our economy grew at 3.4 percent in the second quarter this year. Inherent in that growth is a free enterprise system that provides incentives³ for people to take risk and to grow their businesses and it's an economy that is large, flexible and resilient.

One of the interesting aspects of this economic growth is that we have benefitted from increased exports. In other words, U.S. farmers and small business owners and manufacturers have found markets overseas for our products, products grown right here or built right here in the United States. And by selling those products overseas it's contributed to the strong second quarter growth.

And when we are able to sell products overseas, or goods and services overseas, it means that Americans are more likely to find a job here in America. Job growth has been strong, and that's what you'd expect when our economy is strong and resilient and flexible. People working, unemployment rate is down, wages are increasing.

And so I want the American people to take a good look at this economy of ours. The world is strong -- the world economy is strong. I happen to believe one of the main reasons why is because we remain strong. And my pledge to the American people is we will keep your taxes low to make sure the economy continues to remain strong, and we'll be wise about how we spend your money in Washington, D.C. I submitted a budget that will be in balance at 2012, and I look forward to working with Congress to achieve that goal.

Anyway, thank you all for coming. I appreciate you being here.

END 9:48 A.M. EDT