businessweek.com— "In the International Management Development World Competitiveness Yearbook, the U.S. came in first once again. But other nations are closing the gap"
May 18, 2007View in Crawl 4
@ahhellYou're a retard. If China seals its borders and stops being the USA's factory, we will produce our goods elsewhere. It's China's economy that would shut down, they rely upon us as consumers and their factories are their economic strength.China is already selling american dollars in favor of Euros, everyone is doing it, that's one reason why the dollar is falling in value right now, however its investment in the USA is tight and strong and varied. Do not expect this to change, or some cataclysmic event to occur. China's economy is reliant upon the US's remaining strong. If they f**k us, they f**k themselves.
Barney - I'm with you man - so let's take it a step further - let's start mentally moving away from flags as a definition of who we are. The question is "who will win?" I hope the answer is the human race. We're still going to have f**kwits in both extreme camps - but I'm personally all for forgoing the "I'm American and you're from X" segregation. I'm American and my wife is Japanese (met and married in Japan) - so I consider "my family" to have a mental and spiritual interest in each. Just in our household - we bridged the gap - legally they are two independent countries, yet I will teach my children they are from each place equally (and hope they 'get' it). Now if a bunch of other families could do the same thing, by the time our collective offspring grow up and take their respective places in the work force and (hopefully) politics - we may have nourished a strong idealism for the enrichment of "humanity" instead of "enriching us while oppressing them." Naive idealism? Perhaps. Or maybe I can honestly see that there really are more good people in the world than bad, and it will only take one or two friendships across borders times hundreds of millions of people to make it a reality. God Bless the Internet - Digg is a community with members of many countries. Because of the Internet, our Earth is now pregnant with the future I'm describing.
Whatever ... China is making itself indipensable with its manufacturing base.Have you noticed that the per capita buying power of the average US citizen has been DECLINING as the manufacturing jobs that used to fuel their middle class disappear overseas? How many more years do you think the US will have the clout it does if this continues? How long before the EU passes the US as the most valued market in the world? Without that leverage, the US is nothing ... too many people washing each other's clothes or serving each other expensive coffess and not actually making anything.
Best schools in the world... Not so sure, apart from Ivy League."we still import top talent from around the world moreso than any other country" - true. There´s a lot of talk about "brain drain" to America here in Germany, because highly-skilled people like doctors and especially research scientists just don´t get paid well enough here to offset their long years at university and their hard work.
Harvard free to low income students? Yeah, and how many a year? 50? 100? That's one block of kids in Watts or urban Detroit. My Alma Mater, one of the best medical schools in Canada, charged 4.5K a year for tuition last year. Princeton was 33K. Harvard was 36K. They are better schools, arguably, but 8-9 times better? University of Alberta grads are doing cutting edge WORLDWIDE research in medicine, not just "good for Canada". Oh, and the UofA has scholarship students, too, but most don't need them, seeing as they'll pay for their entire degree what one year costs down south at an Ivy League School.As for the other claims ... 45+% believe in Creationism. That's 150 odd million Americans who aren't even in this Century when it comes to education. It will have to "get better" for the next 50 years before you get that figure down where most Euro nations are (single digits or unmeasurable). Have fun battling them in your school boards the whole time, too, because their membership is actually growing.I'm sorry ... I just don't share your optimism with this at all.
And that's because Hong Kong has had a free market. In order for us to avoid being overtaken, electing leaders that aim to publicize everything won't be the answer.
@gakiWhat exactly is your point? I'm not claiming the US has some irrefutable staying power as an economy. I am merely pointing out facts. Quit arguing with your invisible enemies through me.
krebcycleMay 19, 2007
@ahhellYou're a retard. If China seals its borders and stops being the USA's factory, we will produce our goods elsewhere. It's China's economy that would shut down, they rely upon us as consumers and their factories are their economic strength.China is already selling american dollars in favor of Euros, everyone is doing it, that's one reason why the dollar is falling in value right now, however its investment in the USA is tight and strong and varied. Do not expect this to change, or some cataclysmic event to occur. China's economy is reliant upon the US's remaining strong. If they f**k us, they f**k themselves.
misaiatoMay 19, 2007
Barney - I'm with you man - so let's take it a step further - let's start mentally moving away from flags as a definition of who we are. The question is "who will win?" I hope the answer is the human race. We're still going to have f**kwits in both extreme camps - but I'm personally all for forgoing the "I'm American and you're from X" segregation. I'm American and my wife is Japanese (met and married in Japan) - so I consider "my family" to have a mental and spiritual interest in each. Just in our household - we bridged the gap - legally they are two independent countries, yet I will teach my children they are from each place equally (and hope they 'get' it). Now if a bunch of other families could do the same thing, by the time our collective offspring grow up and take their respective places in the work force and (hopefully) politics - we may have nourished a strong idealism for the enrichment of "humanity" instead of "enriching us while oppressing them." Naive idealism? Perhaps. Or maybe I can honestly see that there really are more good people in the world than bad, and it will only take one or two friendships across borders times hundreds of millions of people to make it a reality. God Bless the Internet - Digg is a community with members of many countries. Because of the Internet, our Earth is now pregnant with the future I'm describing.
gakiMay 19, 2007
Whatever ... China is making itself indipensable with its manufacturing base.Have you noticed that the per capita buying power of the average US citizen has been DECLINING as the manufacturing jobs that used to fuel their middle class disappear overseas? How many more years do you think the US will have the clout it does if this continues? How long before the EU passes the US as the most valued market in the world? Without that leverage, the US is nothing ... too many people washing each other's clothes or serving each other expensive coffess and not actually making anything.
hfactorMay 19, 2007
Best schools in the world... Not so sure, apart from Ivy League."we still import top talent from around the world moreso than any other country" - true. There´s a lot of talk about "brain drain" to America here in Germany, because highly-skilled people like doctors and especially research scientists just don´t get paid well enough here to offset their long years at university and their hard work.
gakiMay 19, 2007
Harvard free to low income students? Yeah, and how many a year? 50? 100? That's one block of kids in Watts or urban Detroit. My Alma Mater, one of the best medical schools in Canada, charged 4.5K a year for tuition last year. Princeton was 33K. Harvard was 36K. They are better schools, arguably, but 8-9 times better? University of Alberta grads are doing cutting edge WORLDWIDE research in medicine, not just "good for Canada". Oh, and the UofA has scholarship students, too, but most don't need them, seeing as they'll pay for their entire degree what one year costs down south at an Ivy League School.As for the other claims ... 45+% believe in Creationism. That's 150 odd million Americans who aren't even in this Century when it comes to education. It will have to "get better" for the next 50 years before you get that figure down where most Euro nations are (single digits or unmeasurable). Have fun battling them in your school boards the whole time, too, because their membership is actually growing.I'm sorry ... I just don't share your optimism with this at all.
alexwillsMay 20, 2007
And that's because Hong Kong has had a free market. In order for us to avoid being overtaken, electing leaders that aim to publicize everything won't be the answer.
krebcycleMay 20, 2007
@gakiWhat exactly is your point? I'm not claiming the US has some irrefutable staying power as an economy. I am merely pointing out facts. Quit arguing with your invisible enemies through me.
krebcycleMay 20, 2007
@hfactor: I copied my chart from wikipedia. I didn't notice Germany wasn't in the EU grouping. Besides, the EU is already listed as first.
asfddasfMay 20, 2007
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