of the national product dropped accordingly, falling to an average of 3.6% in the remaining years of the 70s and 3% in the 80s. Then, the collapse of the Soviet regime led to the opening of the gates of the former USSR for Jews who wished to emigrate and they came to Israel at a rate reminiscent of the early years of the state. Again, proof was provided for the Israeli link between immigration and economic growth, the latter doubling to an average rate of about 6% - the highest rate of growth in the Western world in the first half of the 90s.ExportsThe rapid growth of the national product allowed the Israeli economy to register another important achievement, an increase by a factor of many hundreds in the export of goods and services, from $41 million in 1949 to $31.3 billion in 1996 - reaching the highest per capita exports in the industrial world. Even after allowing for inflation's effect on the American dollar (amounting to a fall of 7.874 times in the years 1948-1995), there is still a 97-fold real increase in Israeli exports over the years of its existence. Furthermore, it is clear that the national product could not have grown as fast as it did, had a large part of the increase in manufacturing not been earmarked for export. The single firm strives to increase its exports in order to expand business and increase profits. But from the point of view of the economy as a whole, the importance of increasing the country's exports lies in the desire to achieve economic "independence" or viability - a situation in which the foreign currency received for exports is sufficient to pay for all the goods and services that are imported. On this front, too, the Israeli economy has recorded significant achievements: While in 1950, income from exports financed only 14% of the country's imports, this figure increased to 51% in 1960, 73% in 1980, and 78% in 1990.UnemploymentThe ills of unemployment are not limited to the economic and morale-relate...
