And more demand for medical services. See this nice unregulated Chinese sunset:
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
At some moment, maybe. But in meanwhile it will cause the major dislocation. The main problem is that fixed cost of living in US are much higher. There is also a huge entry cost for rebuilding infrastructure, engineering community and know-how.
American leadership in industry was not built in one generation. Once lost, it might be never regained.
But stopping H1-B visas, offshoring, and hiring of non-American born engineers all at the same time because war breaks out will accomplish something. Suddenly the American born male engineer becomes very important again. They will invent many new things because of the huge war time investments made in technology, and after the war America will ride another big technological wave for the next 20 years.
"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. "
I think you are underestimating the changes taking place in other parts of the world. While noone doubts the Leadership of the US right now in these industries.. the future will see far more competition than ever before. The fact that this report has been prepared by people who work in the real world means it needs to be taken seriously. This is not something written by a bunch of politicians.
fight a War every 20 years? with whom? The jobs may move from the country you are at War with to another country in the vicinity we are not at war with.
And they have been doing it for many years already. And they appear to have luck too. Give them few more years and you will see.
Stay the hell out of the way of market forces.
China is on the short list for the next big confrontation. Hopefully it will be a cold war.
Mankind really needs to invent some way to push technology without getting into wars. The moon landings were a good proxy but that was 40 years ago.
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. ......This is directly due to the costs. OF ENVIRONMENTAL, DOT AND EPA REGULATIONS. Get the government out of the way and the jobs will follow.
What about costs of living in US? In how many areas can you commute on bicycle? Do you want US to adopt Chinese environment standards?
I do not disagree about the relative value of the dollar vs. many East Asian currencies. Oil can be expected to go up in value by the same ratio unless demand decreases sufficiently.
"The Government can create high quality jobs? Who knew?"
If they put as much effort into keeping jobs here in the
US....as much effort as let's say OPIC (not OPEC) does in offshoring our jobs, then yes, I believe the government COULD indeed create an atmosphere here in the US for hi-end jobs.
Government CAN plan a positive role in stimulating growth. You are assuming it is doing the right thing by negotiating Free Trade agreements, why is it any better at the latter and incapable of the former?
Set the corporate income tax rate to zero. Problem solved.
"I read recently where Microsoft stated that Indian Engineers were good at structure, but were unimaginative, and were not able to "think outside of the box". For this reason, most of their real R&D is still located in Redmund."
Maybe they should pay a little more attantion to their coders who DO infact think "inside the box"...they might just produce a decent OS.
Better yet institute the Fair Tax and eliminate the payroll tax and tax compliance costs as well.
And more demand for medical services. See this nice unregulated Chinese sunset:
Then they'd be stuck with 5% (or less) market share like all the other "OSes".
"Then they'd be stuck with 5% (or less) market share like all the other "OSes"."
Which would stir up competition and would ultimately benefit everyone.
Think of "Rocko's modern life" / Conglom-o.
The masses are stuck with the Mcdonalds of OS's. Now daaaa-Bill wants to further his stranglehold on the market by having the hardware ONLY work with Windoze.
My own belief is that the Marines did OK with the run of draftees during this period and the Army did not for political reasons. Effective training for such human material is rather strict and has a pretty fair death rate. The Marines used the brig, a remarkable experience in those days. You would not believe the details.
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