(Community Matters) Beginning of very interesting conversations this week on what represent the best options for US economic competitiveness and opportunity for our citizens. A friend says it’s all about the global workforce and our (USA) continued advantage in entrepreneurship, innovation and management. He believes we can retool US manufacturing workers to virtually & physically lead teams of workers in foreign countries.
I’d love comments on this as well as links to thought leadership.
Community Matters 
I think the most important changes need to be in the attitudes and expectations of the American people rather than in government policies.
1)
We need to stop sending so many kids to college. The A Nation At Risk report came out almost 30 years ago, and politicians of all stripes have been preaching education as a solution for economic woes ever since. Unfortunately this has translated to an automatic shoveling of 18-year-olds to academic colleges. (Egged on by underemployed PhDs who wish they could get teaching jobs.) Many people don’t like college and there is no reason to send them there. It’s an enormous waste of human capital. Many students do better at trade schools and end up there anyway in their mid-20s. It is better to send them to trade school at age 16 than at age 24.
2)
We need to increase labor mobility. A big obstacle to that is health insurance which most people get through their jobs. I was very disappointed at the failure of the recent health care reform to include the “public option”. Overall, we need to disassociate employment and health insurance.
3)
We should recognize that movements like Keep Austin Weird are economically naïve and advocate protectionism for inefficient small businesses. This only hurts our competitiveness. We should recognize how awesome Wal-Mart is. If there were a Wal-Mart in the medical field, it would go a long way toward providing low-cost health care for all.
4)
We need to recognize that private businesses create wealth and jobs, but that doesn’t mean we run society as a whole as a business. We don’t lay off old people because they make too much money or aren’t ambitious enough and replace them with young go-getters on a society-wide basis. (Yes, I am for lowering immigration levels.)
5)
Recognize that the most prevalent form of employment discrimination isn’t based on race or sex, but on age. The wrongheaded opinion of HR managers that they must pay their employees a higher salary than they have ever received previously – this leads to discrimination against older people who might have made higher salaries in the past. It results in an incredible waste of talent and productivity.
6)
People of moderate wealth who want to live off their investments need to realize there is no guarantee stock and real estate prices will go up 20% per year indefinitely. Get a job or start a business to maintain your lifestyle. Don’t just monitor your stocks all day.
7)
We need to raise income taxes. (Yes, this will make us more competitive in the long run.)
8)
We need to take a very large grain of salt when listening to Richard Florida.