A dramatic decline in the Japanese economy, despite its possible "knock-on" effects for the global economy, would not have a "debilitating" effect on the United States, the White House's top economic adviser said Wednesday afternoon. "The actual linkages are important, but they should not be overstated," President Bush's chief economic adviser, Larry Lindsey, said at a World Economic Forum conference sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Lindsey said slightly over 1% of the U.S. economy is tied to exports to Japan. "So even a very dramatic decline in the Japanese economy would have a direct effect that would be fairly small," he said.