by 3 Cylivers
When you walk around in malls, car dealerships and suburban communities, you might think there is too much money and too many consumers. What could be wrong with our economy? Actually, Americans are the last people on earth to know about anything that happens beyond the shores and how it impacts them. Why? because there are deeper problems at work. Such as a widespread complacency and an entitlement mentality about jobs. Lack of awareness stems from the sense of apathy, and obviously media does not want to blabber about something that its audience has no interest in consuming.
"When you're in college drinking beer and watching the Super Bowl, your counterpart in India is on his fourth book," says Roy Singham, CEO of ThoughtWorks, a software consultancy with offices in the United States, India, China, and elsewhere. "I'm not predicting the end of American entrepreneurship, but we will lose 10 to 30 percent of our high-end start-ups."
For America, this must be a testing time when trillions of dollars are flowing out of the country in Iraq (maybe Iran in future) and slowly and steadily jobs in the services sector is moving out to India, China and other countries in Asia/Eastern europe. For all the talk about what to do which is likely to get louder in the years ahead it may simply take a national dose of humility before America musters its famed resolve and strives once again for global leadership. "The attitudes I see in Estonia, Mexico, Brazil, China, Latvia--they're hungrier than we are," IBM's Donofrio says. That's one reason, he explains, that IBM is "reallocating" many of its jobs to vibrant new markets. When enough of those jobs have migrated to other countries, maybe Americans will get hungry, too.
If you just let numbers tell the story:
- Estimated amount U.S. companies spend annually on R&D: $194 Billion
- Estimated amount U.S. companies spend annually on litigation: $205 Billion
- Rank of American eighth graders in science proficiency among 45 countries: 9
- Rank of American eighth graders in math proficiency among 45 countries: 15
- Percent of engineering Ph.D's awarded in the United States that go to foreign-born students: 56
- Number of the world's Top 25 information-technology companies based in the U.S.: 6
- Number of the world's Top 25 information-technology companies based in Asia: 14
- U.S. trade balance in high-tech manufactured goods, 1990: $33 Billion
- U.S. trade balance in high-tech manufactured goods, 2004: -24 Billion
There's much more at stake than a few additional amusements for couch potatoes. New technologies tend to get developed in markets where there's infrastructure that supports them and consumers who demand them, which often spurs further innovation and the high-paying jobs that come with it. When Internet service provider EarthLink was looking for a partner to help launch a cutting-edge cellphone service in the United States, it didn't even consider Verizon or Cingular or any other U.S. company. Instead, it began scouting for a partner in South Korea, where the government has aggressively pushed broadband connectivity to every home, advanced cellular technology, and other innovations. "They're doing things we haven't even contemplated in the United States," says EarthLink founder Sky Dayton. Many Korean phones, for example, double as smart cards that can be waved in front of a vending machine to make a purchase. Some even get TV reception, via satellite. EarthLink ended up striking a deal with SK Telecom, Korea's largest cellular operator, to form Helio, which will start offering upscale cellular services aimed at tech-savvy Americans this spring.
America has always been at the fore front of innovation and technology. It continues to enjoy its status as a super power when it comes to economy and military strength. But the world is flatter now. The economy has gone global. Today, what one country produces and consumes impacts the rest of the world. First it was manufacturing when it slowly moved out of America to China. Now it is services, led by information technology outsourcing, call centers and helpdesks. Slowly, other service sectors are moving out as well. We all know that increasing number of individual tax professionals in India are helping out taxpayers in preparing their 1040s.
In near future, the battle will be dependent on development of newer technologies and investment money and obviously the jobs. When it comes to technology, while remaing a leader of the world for a decade we are losing our edge. Japan, China, Korea, and some other countries are at the forefront of the technology. High speed 3G networks are standard here while in America it is still a novelty. Meanwhile, Chinese telecom firms that few Americans have ever heard of, like Huawei and ZTE, are gobbling up business in Asia and developing countries and eyeing the industrialized world.
When it comes to jobs, we all have watched the trend in last few years. Today, half of IBM's 190,000 employee strength is outside US. GE was forced to move its manufacturing and back office services offshore. General Motors, America's biggest industrial company, is a poster child for America's waning influence, as it staggers toward possible bankruptcy. Japan's Toyota Motor Co., meanwhile, is likely to overtake GM as the world's largest carmaker as early as this year. The job toll at GM: 30,000 and counting.
Where is America headed? If you had the interest to know that and are reading this line: well, you decide. Meanwhile, I love America for what it's always been, a leader in innovation. Show me a iPod conceived and designed in India or a cutting edge vaccine crafted in South Korea or free thinkers becoming entrepreneurs in their garages. Today, market forces may take some of the steam out, it's still the largest ship in the ocean.
