Article: Can America Keep Up?

[SujiwanKenobee]

I apologize if this was already posted for discussion elsewhere, but a quick manual search didn't reveal it.
Can America Keep Up? by Richard J. Newman

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/articles/060327/27global.htm

Excerpts:

The next time there's a moon shot, don't expect the United States to take the prize.
Over the past century, Americans have become accustomed to winning every global battle that mattered: two world wars, the space race, the Cold War, the Internet gold rush. Along the way, Americans have enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and lived lives that were the envy of the rest of the world.

It was nice while it lasted. Today, while unemployment remains low, home values continue to surge, and fearless American consumers keep spending beyond their means, the land of the free is slowly, but unmistakably, yielding advantages earned over decades to foreigners who work harder, expect less, and, often, are better educated. Taken piecemeal, these shifts are virtually imperceptible to most Americans. But business leaders, top academics, and other experts--especially those who travel abroad frequently--increasingly see America as a nation that has pulled into the slow lane, while upstarts in a hurry outhustle Americans in the race for technological, industrial, and entrepreneurial supremacy. "Every one of the early warning signals is trending downward," frets Intel Chairman Craig Barrett. "We're all fat, dumb, and happy, which is one reason why this is so insidious.

Losing ground. Vaguely worrisome long-term trends are finally becoming today's problems. General Motors, America's biggest industrial company, is a poster child for America's waning influence, as it staggers toward possible bankruptcy. Japan's Toyota Motor Co., meanwhile, is likely to overtake GM as the world's largest carmaker as early as this year. The job toll at GM: 30,000 and counting. And while GM's woes may represent an "old economy" hangover, the same patterns are emerging in modern technological areas, too. Many of the leading breakthroughs in semiconductor development, telecommunications, nanotechnology, and Internet services--once dominated by U.S. companies--are steadily migrating overseas. American businesses are seeking legions of talented technical specialists abroad, partly because they're cheaper there but also because they're far more plentiful than in the United States. "What's happening now with cars is working its way up to higher technology," says David Calhoun, General Electric's vice chairman. "I hate to see a market as big and strong as the U.S. market growing weaker."
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I think that emotions about the whole illegal immigration issue are so extremely raw because we're really getting it from all sides. The whole American economic raison d'etre is getting a major drubbing from all sides and no one is really sure what to do about it. So much of what we were led to believe were our native strengths (for example, world class universities drawing intellectuals from abroad permanently, freedom to fail leading to greater entrepreneurialism, a chance for everyone due to job creation for all skill levels, etc is being blown up from all sides. We're no longer an "exciting" country. Then, to contend with needful persons from outside the borders contesting for the scrap jobs that may be in our near future... Get ready to adapt and migrate to outside the US to find jobs. Our corporations are going to keep "reallocating" jobs to new markets until Americans "get hungrier" for the opportunities going to the new markets...

[Warpy]

1. Not with all the corporate pigs exporting our JOBS

and Congress getting fat on the proceeds and refusing to do a goddamned thing to protect us!

Sheesh, this article is as bad as the "American's don't WANT to work" articles that fail to mention that the jobs pay minimum wage and won't support an American who wants to keep living here.