Can America Keep Up?

Recent economic studies have shown that technological progress accounts for more than half of the U.S. economic growth in the post-war period. Correspondingly, a workforce highly trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is fundamental to our nation’s ability to remain competitive. The skills and knowledge of a country’s workforce play a huge role in determining its long run standard of living. With the process of globalization continuing, and the baby boom generation on the verge of retirement, attention is turning to the skills of America’s younger workers.

This past week I read a rather depressing article dealing with The Workforce Readiness Crisis. “Released in September, "The Workforce Readiness Report Card" from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, The Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management found the nation's new workforce entrants "woefully ill-prepared for the demands of today's—and tomorrow's—workplace." Donna Klein, president, CEO, and founder of Corporate Voices for Working Families, says the study's results were ‘amazing and sobering.’ “ The article is well worth reading in its entirety.

Earlier this year in his 2006 State of the Union speech, President Bush outlined an American Competitiveness Initiative to deal with a new threat: intensifying competition from countries like China and India. He proposed a substantial increase in financing for basic science research, called for training 70,000 new high school Advanced Placement teachers and recruiting 30,000 math and science professionals into the nation's classrooms. "We must continue to lead the world in human talent and creativity," Mr. Bush said. "Our greatest advantage in the world has always been our educated, hard-working, ambitious people and we are going to keep that edge."

Recent economic studies have shown that technological progress accounts for more than half of the U.S. economic growth in the post-war period. Correspondingly, a workforce highly trained in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is fundamental to our nation’s ability to remain competitive. See: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060131-5.html for an outline of the plan.

You may also want to check out a recent article in the U.S. News called “Can America Keep Up? Why so many smart folks fear that the United States is falling behind in the race for global economic leadership.”

Will the U.S. economy be able to maintain its historical edge in innovation? This would be a great topic for the Discussion Board.

Extra Credit: Where has President Bush been in the last couple of days and what has he been up to? If you are the first student to send me an e-mail (kwoodward@saddleback.edu) with the answer, you will be rewarded with two extra credit Discussion Board points. Only two points extra credit per student can be earned in any given week from the blog questions.