Competing on the Global Playing Field in the 21st Century

.  There were always those who’ve waxed fatalistic, fearing that we lacked the capacity to adapt, to succeed – at times even to survive – in a changing world.

But what makes America great, what continues to make America the envy of our competitors, what makes this a place where people come not just to invest but to start lives and businesses and families, is something that has been inexorable and enduring, especially in times of great challenge and great change.  It’s that spirit of adventurousness and entrepreneurship that has for generations turned wild-eyed tinkerers into world-changing entrepreneurs; that led us westward and skyward; that led to roads and railways cutting through wilderness, and ships and planes and fiber optic lines carrying American goods and services around the world.  It’s the spirit that has advanced America’s leadership in the world and held aloft the American Dream for generations.

President Barack Obama addresses the Export-Import Bank’s annual conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C.,