http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004/tc20040316_6114_tc166.htm
The USA has enjoyed high-technology leadership for so long that it has come to be taken as a given. Now with increased outshoring and the flight of IT jobs to India and points west and north, fears mount that this leadership position is unsustainable. Clearly, in specific areas, ranging from cell-phones to passenger aircraft, the USA's lead has been eroded or eliminated.
When developing countries will fund new ventures in a wey that government in the USA cannot, this introduces potentials for additional competitive mismatch. Over-concentration on defence hardware development is one contributing factor, a reluctance to invest in long-term R&D is another, and a reduced higher education graduating cadre in science and technology is a third. Of course a nation which rewards its lawyers far more than its technologists is bound to develop an educational output which corresponds to this reward system. The fact that other countries have started recognizing the 'brain drain' only exacerbates this.
The fact that the USA still has a climate most congenial to intellectual innovation is one of the few cards it has left to play in this game. With such an obvious way to maximize public benefits, one could almost expect governments to start chipping away at the university system. This race is by no means over, and the outcome is by no means a sure thing.
Related articles on technology competitiveness are indexed in article sidebars.
Posted by jho at March 18, 2004 04:52 PM