Zonkerbl wrote:U.S. lost its comparative advantage in light manufacturing years ago. Don't know what this story tells us.
We are mildly competitive in high tech manufacturing, but only just. We are good at airplanes, software, financial advice, administrating far-flung international corporations, and inventing new stuff.
The folks who are researching ways to use genomic information to cure cancer are located here. Transgenic animal research is done here. Biologically engineered crops were invented here.
Not everything we invent is going to be manufactured here. Ipods are manufactured in China, and virtually all 3G cellphones are imported. We get the royalties and license fees -- not a lot, granted.
Yes, the U.S. is a lousy place to manufacture things. We have a set of policies that says if you are going to provide manufacturing jobs here, they have to be safe and clean and high paying. So we don't have that many manufacturing jobs here.
So all the really good jobs are in high tech industries requiring a fairly advanced degree. That means there are no particularly good jobs for high school grads, and precious few good jobs for bachelors.
So... you can go two ways with that. Try and win a race to the bottom with China, or invest more in education and create good, safe, clean, high paying high tech jobs that we have a competitive advantage in.
And that's a bipartisan issue. Both the Dems and the Republicans want this. Since it requires investment in soft, icky, bleeding heart liberal things like education rather than missiles, I kind of trust the Dems to do it right. But business folks have been lobbying for better higher education since I've been in the biz, which includes 8 years working with Republicans.
Zonk - Why do you trust the Dems to do education right? Didn't Dems produce "Waiting for Superman" which documented Dem's complicity in the failure of urban public education? Aren't almost all Dem controlled urban school districts in trouble (while spending more per pupil than everywhere else)? Don't the teacher's unions call the shots in these districts and aren't the needs of students subordinated to those of the unions and their political puppets. At least this is the case made by Dems in their documentary, "Waiting for Superman".