Posted on 10/13/2005 2:18:30 AM PDT by Arjun
Broad Federal Effort Urgently Needed to Create New, High-Quality Jobs for All Americans in the 21st Century
WASHINGTON -- The unmatched vitality of the United States' economy and science and technology enterprise has made this country a world leader for decades, allowing Americans to benefit from a high standard of living and national security. But in a world where advanced knowledge is widespread and low-cost labor is readily available, U.S. advantages in the marketplace and in science and technology have begun to erode. A comprehensive and coordinated federal effort is urgently needed to bolster U.S. competitiveness and pre-eminence in these areas so that the nation will consistently gain from the opportunities offered by rapid globalization, says a new report from the National Academies.
Given the United States' history of economic and scientific pre-eminence, it is easy to be complacent about these complex issues, the report says. Following are some indicators that illustrate why decisive action is needed now:
· For the cost of one chemist or one engineer in the United States, a company can hire about five chemists in China or 11 engineers in India.
· Last year chemical companies shuttered 70 facilities in the United States and have tagged 40 more for closure. Of 120 chemical plants being built around the world with price tags of $1 billion or more, one is in the United States and 50 are in China.
· U.S. 12th-graders recently performed below the international average for 21 countries on a test of general knowledge in mathematics and science. In addition, an advanced mathematics assessment was administered to students in 15 other countries who were taking or had taken advanced math courses, and to U.S. students who were taking or had taken pre-calculus, calculus, or Advanced Placement calculus. Eleven countries outperformed the United States, and four scored similarly. None scored significantly below the United States.
· In 1999 only 41 percent of U.S. eighth-graders had a math teacher who had majored in mathematics at the undergraduate or graduate level or studied the subject for teacher certification -- a figure that was considerably lower than the international average of 71 percent. · Last year more than 600,000 engineers graduated from institutions of higher education in China. In India, the figure was 350,000. In America, it was about 70,000.
· In 2001 U.S. industry spent more on tort litigation than on research and development.
Without a major push to strengthen the foundations of America's competitiveness, the United States could soon lose its privileged position. The ultimate goal is to create new, high-quality jobs for all citizens by developing new industries that stem from the ideas of exceptional scientists and engineers.
The congressionally requested report -- written by a 20-member committee that included university presidents, CEOs, Nobel Prize winners, and former presidential appointees -- makes four recommendations along with 20 implementation actions that federal policy-makers should take to create high-quality jobs and focus new science and technology (S&T) efforts on meeting the nation's need for clean, affordable, and reliable energy. Some actions will involve changing existing laws, while others will require financial support that would come from reallocating existing budgets or increasing them. The committee believes that ongoing evaluation of the results should be included in all of the measures.
"America must act now to preserve its strategic and economic security by capitalizing on its knowledge-based resources, particularly in S&T, and maintaining the most fertile environment for new and revitalized industries that create well-paying jobs," said committee chair Norman R. Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md. "The building blocks of our economic leadership are wearing away. The challenges that America faces are immense."
A brief overview of the four recommendations follows, with a sample of proposed actions to implement them.
Ten Thousand Teachers, Ten Million Minds
Increase America's talent pool by vastly improving K-12 mathematics and science education.
· Among the recommended implementation steps is the creation of a merit-based scholarship program to attract 10,000 exceptional students to math and science teaching careers each year. Four-year scholarships, worth up to $20,000 annually, should be designed to help some of the nation's top students obtain bachelor's degrees in physical or life sciences, engineering, or mathematics -- with concurrent certification as K-12 math and science teachers. After graduation, they would be required to work for at least five years in public schools. Participants who teach in disadvantaged inner-city or rural areas would receive a $10,000 annual bonus. Each of the 10,000 teachers would serve about 1,000 students over the course of a teaching career, having an impact on 10 million minds, the report says. Sowing the Seeds
Sustain and strengthen the nation's commitment to long-term basic research.
· Policy-makers should increase the national investment in basic research by 10 percent each year over the next seven years. Special attention should be paid to the physical sciences, engineering, mathematics, and information sciences, and to basic research funding for the U.S. Department of Defense, the report says.
· Policy-makers also should establish within the U.S. Department of Energy an organization called the Advanced Research Project Agency -- Energy (ARPA-E) that reports to the undersecretary for science and sponsors "out-of-the-box" energy research to meet the nation's long-term energy challenges.
· Authorities should make 200 new research grants annually -- worth $500,000 each, payable over five years -- to the nation's most outstanding early-career researchers. Best and Brightest
Develop, recruit, and retain top students, scientists, and engineers from both the United States and abroad. The United States should be considered the most attractive setting in the world to study and conduct research, the report says.
· Each year, policy-makers should provide 25,000 new, competitive four-year undergraduate scholarships and 5,000 new graduate fellowships to U.S. citizens enrolled in physical science, life science, engineering, and mathematics programs at U.S. colleges and universities.
· Policy-makers should provide a one-year automatic visa extension that allows international students to remain in the United States to seek employment if they have received doctorates or the equivalent in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or other fields of national need from qualified U.S. institutions. If these students then receive job offers from employers that are based in the United States and pass a security screening test, they should automatically get work permits and expedited residence status. If they cannot obtain employment within one year, their visas should expire. Incentives for Innovation
Ensure that the United States is the premier place in the world for innovation. This can be accomplished by actions such as modernizing the U.S. patent system, realigning tax policies to encourage innovation, and ensuring affordable broadband Internet access, the report says.
· Policy-makers should provide tax incentives for innovation that is based in the United States. The Council of Economic Advisers and the Congressional Budget Office should conduct a comprehensive analysis to examine how the United States compares with other nations as a location for innovation and related activities, with the goal of ensuring that the nation is one of the most attractive places in the world for long-term investment in such efforts. · The Research and Experimentation Tax Credit is currently for companies that increase their R&D spending above a predetermined level. To encourage private investment in innovation, this credit, which is scheduled to expire in December, should be made permanent. And Congress and the administration should increase the allowable credit from 20 percent to 40 percent of qualifying R&D investments.
The study was sponsored by the National Academies, which comprise the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council. They are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter. A committee roster follows.
Copies of Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future will be available this fall from the National Academies Press; tel. 202-334-3313 or 1-800-624-6242 or on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu. Reporters may obtain a pre-publication copy from the Office of News and Public Information (contacts listed above).
[ This news release and report are available at http://national-academies.org ]
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy
Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century
Norman R. Augustine1 (chair) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lockheed Martin Corp. (retired) Bethesda, Md.
Craig R. Barrett1 Chairman of the Board Intel Corp. Chandler, Ariz.
Gail Cassell2 Vice President of Scientific Affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases Eli Lilly and Co. Indianapolis
Steven Chu3 Director E.O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Berkeley, Calif.
Robert M. Gates President Texas A&M University College Station
Nancy S. Grasmick State Superintendent of Schools Maryland Department of Education Baltimore
Charles O. Holliday Jr.1 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer DuPont Wilmington, Del.
Shirley Ann Jackson1 President Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, N.Y.
Anita K. Jones1 Lawrence R. Quarles Professor of Engineering and Applied Science School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Virginia Charlottesville
Joshua Lederberg2,3 Sackler Foundation Scholar Rockefeller University New York City
Richard C. Levin President Yale University New Haven, Conn.
C. Daniel Mote Jr.1 President and Glenn L. Martin Institute Professor of Engineering University of Maryland College Park
Cherry A. Murray1,3 Deputy Director for Science and Technology Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, Calif.
Peter O'Donnell Jr. President O'Donnell Foundation Dallas
Lee R. Raymond1 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Exxon Mobil Corp. Irving, Texas
Robert C. Richardson3 Vice Provost for Research and F.R. Newman Professor of Physics Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y.
P. Roy Vagelos2,3 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Merck & Co. Inc. (retired) Bedminster, N.J.
Charles M. Vest1 President Emeritus Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge
George M. Whitesides1,3 Woodford L. and Ann A. Flowers University Professor of Chemistry Harvard University Cambridge, Mass.
Richard N. Zare3 Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science Department of Chemistry Stanford University Stanford, Calif.
NATIONAL ACADEMIES STAFF
Deborah D. Stine Study Director
1 Member, National Academy of Engineering 2 Member, Institute of Medicine 3 Member, National Academy of Sciences
Big Government's solutions to issues is like snake oil. When it fails to cure the problem, you must not have taken enough and just need more.
It really demonstrates the profound ignorance of the authors.
Why young American students should pay tens of thousands BORROWED dollars and waste several years and be expected to work "five" or "11" times harder or be be paid "five" or "11" less. Then after age forty to be on the street being told "why did not start your own business?".
The ultimate goal is to create new, high-quality jobs for all citizens by developing new industries that stem from the ideas of exceptional scientists and engineers.
Why these "new industries" should start in USA if building them in China/India is cheaper?
Yet this distinguished committee of ivory-tower, stuffed-shirt bureaucrats fails to mention Tort Reform as a major component of the solution.
What do they come up with instead?
MORE federal social spending on education and INTERNET ACCESS.
INTERNET ACCESS???
WTF do we need to be spending money on Internet Access, for crying out loud?
We ALREADY HAVE the most widespread internet access on the face of the friggin planet, and the private sector continues to invest to expand and upgrade service WITHOUT more government handouts.
BONE between the ears!
Just where the hell do they think the money's going to come from when already extravegent federal deficit spending is hemmorhaging OUT of our domestic economy as a half-Trillion dollar Trade Deficit???
We need to divert that cash flow BACK INTO our domestic economy to stimulate peaceful utilization of our own natural resourses. Levy a 10~15% flat-rate revenue tariff on ALL imported goods and corresponingly reduce the corporate income tax. THAT will provide incentive for private investment in domestic industries. And when the job opportunities arise, people will CHOOSE educational paths for careers in those industries.
And if they want to more directly stimulate technological development with federal spending, they can ditch the social programs and focus on infrastructure development. We need more power plants (clean-coal and nuclear), desalination plants to provide fresh-water for our densely populated coastal states, electricly powered mass-transit systems to reduce our OPEC-oil dependence, and LEVEES to protect our cities and towns from floods. BUILDING INFRASTRUCTUE creates wealth and stimulates growth.
Oh no! The Feds want to "help" us.
My solution to this "problem" is a far cry from what this idiotic panel is recommending, and I'm extremely disappointed to see someone like the CEO of Lockheed-Martin on board with these recommendations. Some of these things are the kind of "solutions" I would expect from a Marxist think tank, not a leading industrial CEO.
Never happen, globalists (D's and R's) are making entirely too much money selling out the USA. Seems the goal is to create a world comprised of the very very rich and the very very (dependant on the rich) poor. Our only hope is the rise of a third party since the D's and R's are infested with globalists.
A big problem is that too many American kids go into the liberal arts and wind up getting useless degrees like Black Lesbian Studies. Or the kids that are smart don't go into science and engineering. They go into the medical field where the same science background is needed. The U.S. does have top graduate schools, but we are producing advanced degrees for outher nations. We have the reputation for creative thinking in the sciences and a lot of Asians come here for graduate work because that creativity is lacking in their home countries. It also doesn't help that there aren't many good science teachers in the K-12 schools. And it doesn't help when political considerations are trying to get science courses changed to reflect religious values. That just fuels arguements and doesn't do anything to advance science education.
The CEO's of major corporations are tired of having to provide remedial education to their workers because our schools can't do an adequate job. 70% or the applicants where I work cannot pass basic literacy tests. That is not the type of work force that will help America advance faster than other nations. The days of high-paid unskilled workers is over. Get a bad education, and you will find it almost impossible to get a decent paying job. They all require some form of skill or education that you just can't pick up off the street.
This is true for many other industries as well. The world's pharmaceutical industry has the vast majority of their R&D facilities located within the U.S.. Some of this is due to the tax issues but most of the reason is because this is the best place for R&D driven industries to locate. They partner with our university systems, which are still the best in the world, and test within our health-care system which is also the best in the world.
For countries like India and China to create the infrastructure necessary to support this type of R&D will require many, many years and a lot of luck. JMO, they will never develop the required infrastructure in Chemistry, Physics and instrument analysis to challenge our leadership.
Add our dominance in entrepreneurial ability to the equation and I think this article is much more alarmist than it needs to be.
Why spend five years getting an engineering degree and be worried that the next wave of outsourcing will hit when you can get a liberal arts degree and go on the government dole?
There are many high school advisers telling kids not to get engineering degrees, because the jobs for those degrees will be filled at a plant overseas.
But that same entrepreneurial skill is being stifled at every turn. How long can the US keep the "edge" when we can't even seem to have the political will to build a good 21st century power grid?
YES!!
We DO need a broader Federal Effort!!
The Feds need to GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY!
I saw the same thing. " We need more H-1Bs " is what it is saying.
You mention the new math. I was screwed by the new math. It was incomprehensible. I was saved later by Saxon. After I passed calculus I realized that the new math is actually more like analysis, what you studied only after you studied calculus in the old days. Analysis packs what you know (a lot) into a symbol and teaches you to manipulate the symbols. New math introduces the symbols to kids prematurely, before there is any knowledge or skill to associate with the symbol. Therefore the symbol is meaningless and the child confused, frustrated, and quits.
It won't always be cheaper in China and India... Their wages will rise as demand for labor increases. In the end, market supply and demand will reach equilibrium.
This country isn't losing its ability to compete with India and China because our education system is poor. It's because our education system is poor but we pay a lot of freakin' money for it.
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