| Sunday, July 24, 2005 |
| Sunday best |
A Fortune Magazine article asks a key, if uncomfortable question: can America compete with hungry, aggressive, education-centric countries in Asia? A clip:
"Can America compete?" is the nation’s new No. 1 anxiety, the topic of emotional debate in bars and boardrooms, the title of seminars and speeches offered by the liberal Progressive Policy Institute, the conservative economist Todd Buchholz, and countless schools and Rotary Clubs. The question is almost right, but not quite. We’re wringing our hands over the wrong thing. The problem isn’t Chinese companies threatening U.S. firms. It’s U.S. workers unable to compete with those in China—or India, or South Korea. The real question is, "Can Americans compete?"
The stakes are mammoth: Respectable analysts believe it’s possible—not certain, but possible—that the U.S. standard of living, after decades of steady ascent, could stall or even begin to decline. More worrisome is the chance that if the world’s most powerful nation finds itself getting poorer rather than richer, some kind of domestic or even global political crisis could follow.
And just to prove the competition comes from everywhere, seems Intel is planning to build a brand new chip plant ... in Israel. Not a pretty picture, especially since the answer seems to lie in part in changing American culture to value education and innovation more (the way we did, say, during WWII and the space race era), leisure and spending less...
Meanwhile, still enjoying Frank Rich while it's free. Today, he belittles the White House's attempt to shove John G. Roberts in front of the PlameGate freight train.
...And speaking of Roberts, word that will surely chill the Freepers: it's not all that clear that he's all that conservative, PFAW agonistes notwithstanding...
More explosions in Egypt, this type near the pyramids, and both British and Egyptian authorities are making rapid arrests in what now appear to be multiple al-Qaida attacks. I thought our Fearless Leader said we had al-Qaida on the ropes...? BTW the Pope has weighed in even more strongly against the terror attacks, and the relatives of that poor Brazilian are up in arms over his shooting. Unfortunately, it probably was unavoidable... BTW British police are seeking expansive new powers to detain suspects and crack down on jihadist web-sites, and the Christian Science Monitor does an in-depth piece on the rise in "jihadi suicide culture."
...and guess who's trying to become a hot tourist destination? Libya, man, as in Colonel Qaddafi Libya. Go figure. |
posted by JReid @ 2:55 PM   |
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