http://www.forbes.com/2003/10/10/1010grovepinnacor.html
Report of a speech by Andrew Grove suggesting that the trend to outsourcing IT jobs is undermining the USA's technical capacity, with India and China being the beneficiaries. The result of this hollowing out could be unrecoverable, just as was the case with the steel and semiconductor industries.
One estimate has 10% of USA IT jobs moving offshore in 2004 -- but of course, if companies can make the immediate bottom line look good, what does it matter that the nation is irretrievably damaged over the long term? In the absence of public policy, and at a time when the concept of "government for the benefit of the people" has been nearly totally discredited, it is highly unlikely that anything will alter this trend.
Grove also specifies other problems, including a moribund patent system, a shortage of high-speed InterNet connections, S & T R & D funding shortfalls, and failures of the education system as additional negative aspects for the USA's technological position. The fact that most "viewers with alarm" have been proved wrong in the past does not mean that this jeremiad lacks validity, but if it is in fact true, one is inclined to accept that the Titanic has struck the iceberg and it is all over except for the inevitable deck chair rearranging.
Posted by jho at October 13, 2003 03:13 PM