America: Will we take the road less traveled?


By Leonard Novarro


ow did the U.S. get in this situation? Not preparing for change?


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Ignoring the changing global landscape? Greed?


Government stalemate? Living beyond our means?


An “I want it all and I want it now” atti- tude?


Underestimating China and India? Relying on outmoded forms of energy? Downplaying major catastrophic changes like global warming? Misunderstanding government’s role? Mistaking our notion of jobs? A “TGIF” work attitude? Loss of purpose? Failure of capitalism?


Lack of presidential leadership? Failure to listen? Remember: “It’s the


economy, stupid.” Answer: All of the above.


In a single decade, the United States has gone from surplus to deficit, prosperity to eco- nomic hardship, a booming job market to a graveyard of antiquated careers and ideas. Where has all the opportunity gone? As an innovator and as a leader of the IT revolution, America should have a commanding lead in defining future industry and the future of jobs in America. Instead, we have fallen behind countries such as China and India, who have taken the lead – India in the It revolution, China in new energy such as solar, wind and water, as well as Taiwan and South Korea in the manufacture of computer components and


6 ASIA November


digital hardware. It’s easy to blame the changes on outsourc- ing, the shipping of jobs overseas, particularly to Asia, and offshoring, the relocation of com- plete companies overseas. Both trends have damaged the U.S. economy immeasurably. Many of those jobs, particularly service ori- ented jobs such as call centers or low-level manufacturing, will not return, simply because the U.S. cannot compete with wages overseas. The relocation of offshore companies has also created a devastating effect on the accumula- tion of capital in the U.S. because the money earned through these companies remains over- seas and thereby cannot be taxed or circulated to support the U.S. economy.


The world has changed dramatically since the turn of this century. No longer are we competing for hundreds or thousands of Americans for jobs, but with millions of emerging workers, business owners, entrepre- neurs and other professionals throughout the world whose work force is becoming more highly educated and trained. For example, Western Digital, known for its production of external hard drives, is an American company headquartered in Orange County, but produc- ing the majority of its hardware overseas since the 1970s. A large part of its work force is in Malaysia, where labor is cheaper and the work force educated. But even these jobs are mov- ing out of Malaysia to places like Thailand and Vietnam, where labor is even cheaper.


A friend who recently returned from Viet- nam after two years there helping with a fam-


ily business recently gave an example of how China operates in that country. Vietnam has been working hard to establish a strong manu- facturing presence, but when a new product comes out, China comes up with a compet- ing product and charges less. When the Viet- namese product can no longer compete, China raises the price on its product and repeats the scenario. That’s part of the new world economic order we have to compete with? Yet, many continue to ignore the changing


New York Times columnist landscape. Tom Friedman’s two books “The World Is Flat” and “That Was Us” nailed it. Rather than ac- cepting his thesis, that we have to adjust to the global changes, he has been lambasted for being un-American for implying that while we don’t get it, places like China and India do. He just happens to be right.


Ignoring global changes is an economic death sentence. With all the scientific evi- dence proving otherwise, there are still influ- ential segments in this society that do not accept global warming. If you don’t accept this scientifically proven phenomenon, you will not accept that we need to invest in non- polluting forms of energy and technology: solar, wind, water, nuclear and even cooking oil, which has been tried in some cars?


Despite overwhelming air pollution in many parts of China, that country understands that it has to change and has become the No. 1 producer of solar energy in the world, placing China decades ahead of the United States.


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