Can 2009 be the turn around year that we so desperately need? Barack Obama's economic plans are now of the utmost importance for this country. This video is absolutely worth a watch. I was incredibly glad to hear the President acknowledge the very real competition that exists from countries like China and India (although he only mentioned China by name in his speech). I'm reading "The World Is Flat" by Thomas Friedman right now, and Friedman paints a pretty scary picture for our country - provided that we continue to put science and education on the backburner. China and India have larger populations that we do, with more ambitious, and oftentimes, more productive workforces. We absolutely need something like a focus on energy technology to secure American jobs and America's position as a world leader and innovator. The more I think about the past eight years, and how many opportunities have been missed by this administration, the more frustrated I become. Listening to this speech, I am so happy to hear both energy and education mentioned as top priorities for the economic stimulus plan. Granted, one man can't do everything, but if Obama can pull this off, we really will be a nation MUCH better off.
(the video quality isn't fabulous, but the speech is right)
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You might want to check out the following links to read and learn more about globalization and China and India as competitors:
There is this small, but interesting book, by Aronica and Ramdoo, "The World is Flat? A Critical Analysis of Thomas Friedman's New York Times Bestseller," which offers a counterperspective to Friedman's theory on globalization.
Interestingly enough, the book written about two years back, discusses in the following chapters,
"Debt and Financialization of America"
"America"s Former Middle Class"
"A Paradigm Shift for America" with prescriptions for the future
the debt ridden American society, deregulated financial institutions, mortgage crisis and other related issues, with clear pointers to the economic crisis gripping US today. For more information regarding the same, check this out: mkpress.com/FlatExcerpts.pdf
This is a small book compared to the 600 page tome by Friedman, and aimed at the common man and students alike.
You may want to see www.mkpress.com/flat
and watch www.mkpress.com/flatoverview.html
for an interesting counterperspective on Friedman's
"The World is Flat".
Also a really interesting 6 min wake-up call: Shift Happens! www.mkpress.com/ShiftExtreme.html
There is also a companion book listed: Extreme Competition: Innovation and the Great 21st Century Business Reformation
www.mkpress.com/extreme
http://www.mkpress.com/Extreme11minWMV.html
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