Blog
I believe the most important thing Americans must do is to secure their economic well-being in an increasingly challenging, complex world. What I have written about all these years is the process of creating wealth, not for any one individual, but for the United States as a whole. Ever since I was a young correspondent witnessing the emergence of China after the country opened in 1979, I’ve believed we have to get more serious about creating wealth. I retain faith in the resiliency of the U.S. economy and the enterprise of American people. If Americans have the right strategies, we can once again create widespread wealth. Come with me on this journey.
Where are the Nattering Nabobs of Negativity Now?
November 15, 2014
Okay, I admit I borrowed that line from Spiro Agnew, but I am applying it to the politicians and public intellectuals, mostly on the right side of the political spectrum, who argue that any government investment in technology represents “industrial policy,” or “picking winners and losers,” or, more recently, “corporate cronyism.” Here is a case […]
What’s Truly Important about Chinese Economic Ambitions
November 14, 2014
I’m reading a lot of blather these days about how fast the Chinese economy is growing, and can continue to grow, and about how soon its total size will surpass that of the United States. These are the wrong questions to be asking. The Chinese, with four times as many people as the United States, […]
The Scientific Method
November 11, 2014
This package of stories about the future of scientific innovation for Compass magazine challenged me, but I hope all of you find it informative. To see the complete package of stories, go to compassmag.3ds.com. This is the lead story and it has just been published. THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD New technology is changing how research […]
A Revealing Account of How The U.S. Often Doesn’t Commercialize Its Own Technology
October 10, 2014
One of the drums that I keep beating is that we Americans need to do a better job of commercializing the ideas that come out of what I call our “idea factories”–our universities, research institutes, and weapons labs. We blew it with the transistor, for example, and the Japanese took the idea and created the […]
Have We Reached The “Promised Land?”
October 7, 2014
Give me a break. Stuart Hoffman, chief economist at PNC Financial Services Group, was quoted as saying this after the latest job numbers were reported: “I think we’ve finally reached the promised land of a self-sustaining, self-reinforcing economic recovery.” It sure doesn’t feel like the promised land to millions of Americans who can’t find well-paying […]
My thanks to UCLA
September 25, 2014
It was terribly civil of UCLA to come out and answer the questions that I raised in a blog last week. According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, it looks to me like it is a sound management structure and philosophy. I have great hopes that this model spreads throughout the United States. […]
