We have observed the black hole candidate X-ray binary GX 339-4 at radio wa
velengths before, during, and after the 1998 high/soft X-ray state transiti
on. We find that the radio emission from the system is strongly correlated
with the hard X-ray emission and is reduced by a factor of greater than or
equal to 25 during the high/soft state compared with the more usual low/har
d state. At the points of state transition, we note brief periods of unusua
lly optically thin radio emission that may correspond to discrete ejection
events. We propose that in the low/hard state, black hole X-ray binaries pr
oduce a quasi-continuous outflow, that in the high/soft state, this outflow
is suppressed, and that state transitions often result in one or more disc
rete ejection events. Future models for low/hard states, such as advection-
dominated solutions, need to take into account the strong outflow of relati
vistic electrons from the system. We propose that the inferred Comptonizing
corona and the base of the jetlike outflow are the same thing, based on th
e strong correlation between radio and hard X-ray emission in GX 339-4 and
other X-ray binaries and on the similarity in inferred location and composi
tion of these two components.