Scott Allan’s World

President Bush urged against the temptation for protectionism in order to keep our economy strong. He stated the the American people can compete with anyone when there is a level playing field. What he didn’t explain is, what considered a level playing field, do we have one, and if not, how do we guarantee it?

Philosophically I agree with the President that competition will bring out our best efforts and push the economy forward. When manufacturing jobs started moving to Mexico and China, the economy was able to adapt and resources shifted to less menial jobs. Who could compete with children making Nike’s for 25 cents per day? And who would want to? When Japan started selling better cars for less, it told the US auto industry to get its act together or perish.

However, many 3rd world countries have caught or exceeded the United States in intellectual resources, namely math and science. India is the leading example. With the advent of internet technology, the world has become so small that the most complex tasks and services can occur anywhere in the world for a fraction of the cost. We cannot ask our high-tech workers to compete on wages this low. The only other areas to compete in would be customer service and productivity. Do those areas do have enough room to make up the difference? If we create a new technology to improve productivity, we will end up outsourcing the use of the technology overseas again. Everyone will have to end up working in research and development or management.

There can never be a level playing field when you are competing against countries whose standard of living is at a level that Americans have never experienced in our history. What are the options? If we allow unfettered competition over human resources, the only positions in technology that will remain will be those at the very top of corporations delegating to the resources overseas. Passing legislation to ban the outsourcing of human resources will limit the growth of the world economy and limit the market we will be able to sell to.

Perhaps part of the answer should be economic incentives for companies to keep/create jobs in the US. By rewarding the companies that invest in our own people, we will create an environment that will encourage intellectual growth and competition. Perhaps it will lead to innovative ways to shift human resources within our own country rather that simply discarding them. We also need to continue to be the leader in research and development a President Bush pointed out. Also, let’s stop coddling our children in school. Not everybody needs to feel equal and special if it means holding back kids with true gifts for learning. Sure we can invest in our children, but what do you tell the programmer of 20 years who has a family to feed? Does he have to go back to school and completely retrain in a different field starting at the bottom of the ladder again?

We also need to find a way to invest in our intellectual development without saddling our children with debt for half of their adult years. The thought of paying off higher education such as medical school is certainly discouraging considering the time and effort required to complete the education. The rewards will not be reaped for many years in the future and hardly seems worth the investment. As my brother, a lawyer, once said to me, don’t bother going to law school unless you love law because it’s not worth the investment in time and money.