Bill Gates on keeping America competitive

By  | 3/2/2008 | Filed under: Articles

An editorial by Bill Gates appears in today’s Washington Post. He argues that if the U.S. continues to fail to produce the skilled talent it needs to succeed in an innovation economy, the country should import knowledge and innovation workers:

To remain competitive in the global economy, we must build on the success of such schools [as High Tech High] and commit to an ambitious national agenda for education. Government and businesses can both play a role. Companies must advocate for strong education policies and work with schools to foster interest in science and mathematics and to provide an education that is relevant to the needs of business. Government must work with educators to reform schools and improve educational excellence.

American competitiveness also requires immigration reforms that reflect the importance of highly skilled foreign-born employees. Demand for specialized technical skills has long exceeded the supply of native-born workers with advanced degrees, and scientists and engineers from other countries fill this gap.

Read the full editorial…

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About

Dr. John Moravec is a faculty member in the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development and the Innovation Studies/Master of Liberal Studies graduate programs at the University of Minnesota. He is the principal of Education Futures LLC; a co-founder of the Horizon Forum, a roundtable on the future of education at all levels; and is the editor of Education Futures. He can be emailed at john@educationfutures.com.

http://www.educationfutures.com/john

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One Response to Bill Gates on keeping America competitive

  1. Igor on 5/31/2008 at 22:10

    The most of business owners do not possess Bill Gates’ intellectual potential. Their weak minds resist the idea of smarter employees at the instinctive level. Employees who are smarter than the bosses are always considered to be dangerous. Therefore no effort will be taken by companies in the direction of educating people. As long as Chinese robots soldiers is a very near future, it is the responsibility of the government to encourage students to study. It will be hard, because no motivation to sudy is available for younger guys. Intellect is not associated with success and wellbeing. I would say the more degenerate you are, the higher chance you have to succeed. The government has to take radical measures to keep America competitive, otherwise China might decide to expand some day and there will be nobody able to oppose the yellow race.

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