Editor's Note: The "Global Innovation Showcase" is a special feature created by the New America Foundation, a non-partisan, future-oriented think tank based in Washington DC, and the Global Public Square. Tune in tonight at 8pm ET/PT for a special edition of CNN GPS, "Restoring the American Dream: How to Innovate."
By Fareed Zakaria, CNN
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching a tiny satellite, about the size of a beach ball, called Sputnik. It weighted about 200 pounds and circled the Earth in a little under two hours.
America was shocked to find itself behind in the space race and began to put energy, effort and billions of dollars into science, technology and innovation. Less than 12 years after Sputnik, Americans landed on the moon.
Now, a decade into the 21st Century President Obama in his last State of the Union speech declared: “This is our generation's Sputnik moment. We need to out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.”
In his State of the Union address, President Obama mentioned the word “innovation” nine times, more than any other president ever has. And on this issue most of his opponents agree. Listen to Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich or Mitch Daniels and the word innovation pops up again and again. Everyone wants innovation and agrees that it is the key to America's future.
The Soviet Union is gone, but other nations have taken its place, challenging our longstanding supremacy as the world's leading innovator.
How well are we meeting the challenge? In a recent ranking of 40 countries' efforts to foster innovation over the past decade, guess where the United States ranked? Dead last.
This year China is projected to outpace the U.S. in the number of patents it files. That's the first time any other country has overtaken the United States.
The spirit of enterprise, innovation, pioneering and derring-do propelled America standard of living and economy beyond any other nation in the world.
Indeed, as I wrote in TIME this week, “Innovation is as American as apple pie. It seems to accord with so many elements of our national character — ingenuity, freedom, flexibility, the willingness to question conventional wisdom and defy authority. But politicians are pinning their hopes on innovation for more urgent reasons. America's future growth will have to come from new industries that create new products and processes."
"Older industries are under tremendous pressure. Technological change is making factories and offices far more efficient. The rise of low-wage manufacturing in China and low-wage services in India is moving jobs overseas. The only durable strength we have — the only one that can withstand these gale winds — is innovation.”
But how can we move beyond the political rhetoric and get America back on track to being “Innovator #1 in the 21st Century?”
I argue that "Ultimately, innovation cannot work without both significant government support and a vibrant and dynamic private sector that allows people to experiment, fail and try again."
We’ve got an impressive lineup of innovation experts to give you their answers on TV and online.
Tonight at 8pm ET/PT, there will be a special edition of CNN GPS, “Restoring the American Dream: How to Innovate” with:
- Google Executive Chairman, Eric Schmidt
- The head of the U.S. military’s crack team of innovators, Dr. Regina Dugan
- Author, Steven Johnson
- Economist Paul Romer
- Venture capitalist Len Baker
- And innovation maven John Kao
I’ll be live tweeting the "How to Innovate" special with #Innovate with @StevenbjJohnson and @JohnKao. You can follow along @FareedZakaria.
And I’m thrilled to announce the launch of the “Global Innovation Showcase” on our website. With the New America Foundation, we will feature the big ideas, trends and inventions that shape our world – and change how we play, do business and even think.
To get us started online, we have
- John Kao asking Is America Still an Innovation Nation and explaining What is Innovation anyway.
- Author Zachary Karabell on the Innovation Challenge Posed by China.
- Author Steven Johnson offers A Brief History of Innovation.
- And Professor Anne-Marie Slaughter writes an excellent piece entitled Rebellion of an Innovation Mom.
As always, I am keen on hearing your big ideas and insights, so share them online in the comment thread, on Facebook or through iReport.
 |
Post by: |
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
1st step would be to kick the asses of America-haters like Mr.Z.
Leave us alone and STFU
Hows that under-the-table work you do for the Obama Administration doing for ya?
You are a disgrace. You have no right to call yourself a "journalist"
Stupid is as stupid does. And I'm talking about your comment btw, not Fareed's article.
The problem is that we have way too many Trial Lawyers, too many lazy SSI recipients, too much nitpicking government regulation,too many idiotic jurors, too many scaredicats, and too many union work rules. We are doomed because nothing that should change will change. We already have plenty of innovators in the US, but they are hobbled.
The problem is, education is too expensive here in america, in asia it cheap or free to everybody,,here,,its Free Market that make it very expensive.
I can see how well that free education has worked out for you. Good luck for the future.
haters? Look in the mirror buddy
Hate is not always attached to anger. This "journalist" is one of the most hateful at CNN. That is why he gets so much airspace. Be we need more emotion and willingness from the other side to resolve our current issues. Most are doing just what those like Fareed want them to do...just whine and do nothing about it.
You sound like some dumb redneck. The article says we have lost our competitive edge in the world, It is true. Americans have become complacent because we have had a comfortable lifestyle for decades and we take it for granted. We have a false belief that things we always have this way and we have become fat and lazy. The unions have not helped the situation when they fight for deadbet, unproductive workers
Japan long ago surpassed us, Korea is catching up and China is already out producing us. This has to change. It starts with education where students are rewarded for their intelligence, creativity and ability to work with others. We sent our productions overseas; if we cannot invent new productions we are in trouble.
Japan long ago surpassed us? Their economy is in the toilet. Name one great innovation from the Japanese. They (and other nations) have proven adept at taking European technology and making it more cheap and reliable, but I would hardly call them masters of innovation.
Why is it always the unions? They are almost non existent in the last 4 or 5 decades. They had their vices, but the spin off of their imperfect activities helped keep wages up for even the non-members. Then we had a campaign of claiming that the country was in danger of wage driven inflation. So instead we got rid of most unions and we got rent driven inflation. Now millions have made millions by property speculation instead of their by own work and creativity. Now their children cannot get work and could not make enough a home if they did. The unions did not do that.
Sorry about that garbled part I have a decent education, but I am somewhat dyslexic. The last part should have read:
... millions have made millions by property speculation instead of by their own work and creativity. Now their children cannot get work and could not make enough to buy a home if they did. The unions did not do that.
lol blame the unions, seriously? THey are the only recourse people have against corporate power. The government sure as hell isn't there for us. Compare any union job to the same non union job. I bet the majority of the non union workers get some form of government assistance.
And let's not forget unions are there to "empower people." The big companies don't offer anything along those lines. Are unions corrupt? They can be just like anything else. But I'd rather deal with a corrupt union then a destructive pschopathic investor elite class.
Lol outproducing! No they are not the us still manufactures more than china by far he'll add brazil Canada the Eu we still produce more than them combined. Check your facts
The policies of the current administration and past democrats have insured that USA will be competing with both hands tied behind it's back. The "investments" is what Fareed is asking for here, what a mouthpiece for the progressives he has shown himself to be. Unfortunately for american taxpayers, the "investments" have more in common with junk bonds and ponzi schemes. The green revolution is the best example, if these technologies were profitable and more efficient then the investments would be rolling in from private sources. Instead, Fareed and other of his ilk insist on taking money from people who have proven records of creating wealth and jobs, and then giving (or investing) this stolen money with people who have no ability to create sustainable jobs. Innovation isn't dead in this country, it is currently a little stifled by the ideologues currently in charge. The democrats are supported by legions (or lesions) of propagandists like Fareed who can always find a way to spin a problem, even if one doesn't exist, into something only the government (democrats) can solve. I believe Americans are already waking up to this reality, the only people who believe in Fareed's garbage are true Kool-Aiders and the terminally ignorant.
Fareed consistently comes out with articles to discredit American citizens. Many Americans have filed innovative patents that were purchased, then suppressed, by major corporations. Do a patent search on any field at http://www.uspto.gov. Large corporations by their nature suppress individuality and creativity, but they use their money to buy government workers and get suppressive laws passed and taxpayer subsidies. Most of the remarks here show that the corporate propaganda against Americans has succeeded and most American view themselves and/or others as worthless and powerless... good for nothing but good corporate slave labor. Folks, stop listenening to all this negative hype against yourselves. How many of you can continue to believe that YOU are a good worker but no other American is? Look around. We have become dispirited by the endless corporate campaign against us. Time to step out of the major corporation slave force and step up to the plate. I no longer want to be owned by them or purchase any of their products. Americans are not productive? You think goons like Tony Hayward produce oil? They are a leach on innovation and productivity by their employees. They pass down ridiculous Commandments that suppress creativity. Wake up.
Exactly. If we started to reward people on their technical, scientific and engineering skills, things may turn around. Unfortunately everybody wants to be in finance and make big money. There is no big money in engineering and engineers do not get any respect in the US any longer. Trust me because I am an engineer!
I don't see any loss of competitive edge. The only thing we have lost is jobs to overseas slavery and our government does nothing about it. The only thing we lost is our government allowing corporate interests and wall street high-stakes gamblers to decide the fate our citizens We don't need some guy from India telling us what to do, we need a Ross Perot type who knows how to take care of business at home.
America has lost it's edge, because of government interference, corporate greed, lobbyists, bigger government, bigger welfare and give-a-way programs, that creates generational dependency and laziness and last, a deterioration and dumbing down of our educational institutions.
I have to agree with you, Hopie
completely agree with you. I have 2 science degrees and don't come close to earning what these Union auto workers earn.
spot on
The number one issue is the loss of critical thinking. We no longer discuss issues based on fact, increasing it based on outlandish fiction. We willingly practice junk science. We grasp at the absurd and demean common sense. Vaccines cause autism, smart meters cause cancer, global warming is a myth promulgated by the liberals. Aids is a government secret program. Everything now is politicized and idiologized. Occum's razor has been traded for byzantine conspiracy theories and wild rumors. We no longer try to draw conclusions based on the best information available. Instead, if we don't like the conclusions we do our best to twist the evidence. Facts are no longer the basis for reason, but are deemed to be hinderance to reason and decision making.
Another factor that is often overlooked, the low hanging innovation is gone. Garage type exploration is largely (not totally) impossible because of the degree of technology involved and the funding and investment required to produce results. It is very unlikely that a couple of buddies working in the basement or garage 5 night a week using say 25 to even 100K are going to produce the equivalence of the Edisonian light bulb.
I agree! And you forgot Wall street
John, get off your two science degrees and quit looking for a major corporation to enslave you. If you are so intelligent, create something of your own. Corporations have so filled our heads with negative propaganda that we no longer see our own power. Why are you dragging out that old troll of unions and factory workers? That is pure propaganda by corporations wanting to suppress labor, including yourself if you work in a corporation. The unions have been dead in this country for many years now. Dead by corporate propaganda. Now they have turned their propaganda machine against well-educated Americans such as yourself. Enjoying the spotlight that characterizes you as being of less value than your foreign counterparts that mostly got their educations in the US? I thought not.
I so agree with you. Americans have had their jobs taken away because of the outsourcing. We can be innovative. Education is last in most states anymore. They do not want to fund it. Corporate greed has destroyed our nation. There should be a law that if you own a business you are not allowed to take it over seas. Why did this happen? It wasn't the Unions. It was pure corporate greed. Maybe we need to restructure the US business laws.
I absolutely agree..
I totally agree with you Hopie..
(my reply however, was inserted under Victoria's, whom I was not replying to)
1st step .. let the evolutionary process take care of this goon.
I agree with Opedanderson2 but I don't share his hateful language. America's strength is Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin. They themselves may not seem smart but they don't need to be - their job is to run a small small small government and let the smart people innovate without stifling from Big government.
If Palin and Bachman are Americas strength then, America is weaker than I thought.
>> "They themselves may not seem smart but they don't need to be..."
1. Agreed, they don't seem smart (mainly because they are not). 2. It's understandable that being dumb, you want other people like you in the government. 3. The article is about innovation, and people with mindsets like yours don't innovate – they are in fact at the core of the problems that hold back innovation.
Those running our government do not need to be "smart?" You running a major corporation that wants goofheads in the federal government so that you can continue to steal taxpayer money?
America relies on smart people, people like Fareed who are naturaliised Americans but more patriotic than the native-borns, whose goal is to help America recapture the world rank.
you couldn't have said it better. For decades, america relied on the ingenuity of other nations and naturalized citizens like eistein and others. America offered a free environment and these inventors where paid huge sums of money. Now most people are ready to stay back home and develop their respective nations.
J.von H. Small minds think that Truck Pulls, Kick Boxing and garbage TV shows will rebuild the US. Shoot the messenger if you cant take the facts/truth FZ repersents the thinking person. What do the small minds want reality TV?
What we need to do is boot out people who take anyone who dares question or criticize the good ol' USofA and brand them as a "hater".
>> What we need to do is boot out people who take anyone who dares question or criticize the good ol' USofA and brand them as a "hater".
You'll be the first to go, with a very painful bruise from the 'booting.' The good ol' USofA at its core includes the right to free speech – your statement is therefore defunct.
Well that is a crude way to respond but I tend to agree with you. Most of his arguments are spurious. Obama will say anything to get more votes, like any good politician. That we are dead last in a news bureau poll is meaningless. What were the determinants for "innovation"? How do you measure such an abstract concept? And anyway who knows
anything about patents should know that it is a broken system and most people don't bother with them anyway The standards of what constitutes innovation have changed and the industrial/commercial world is evolving as I type. The article is simply a lot of rhetoric and hot air. This guy would do better to live a while so he has the experience by which to evaluate the world before he publishes this crap.
American innovation? China builds nuclear plants better than any other country in the world; Japan messed up badly; there are 400 nuclear plants in the world; USA needs an energy technology in place ASAP;
source: Nathan Myhrvold former Chief Exec at Microsoft featured on Zakaria's show Sunday morning
I traveled around the world: Pakistan, India, Romania, Paris......Euro is the new Dollar unfortunately........
We need to stop relying on our politicians. They are part of the problem. Never believe that they are concerned with the welfare of the majority of Americans. They don't care if you are unemployed. All they are interested is their re-election and how to line their pockets with obscene lobby money. We are on our own. Abolishing congress is a good idea but will never happen. Let's just decide what's good for us and don't let these politicians views affect our decision.
Blaming politicians has become a convenient, yet dull argument. WE GET WHAT WE VOTE FOR. How many scumbag politicians remain in office because their apparently uneducated constituents send them back to D.C. election after election. We won't get term limits unless, maybe, we can pass a national referendum. The American voters have to enact term limits on their own. After one or two terms, vote the incumbents out, no matter what. Until then, we will get what we vote for.
We voted for the politicians, so we need to blame ourselves. We are becoming to content with dumbed own language and people creating scare tactics about "the government is taking over" ,instead of us getting off our lazy rear end and innovating. I have seen plenty of Americans creating businesses and growing them successfully. They are using the internet and social media to make business deals with other U.S. and foreign businesses. These are not rich business owners, but middle class people who have the intelligence to do it and do not listen to conspiracy fear tactics.
Right with ya on that one brother. He hates the USA and Israel. I bet he's a Muslim.
Right with ya on that one brother. He hates the USA and Israel. I bet he's a Muslim. @Opedanderson2
Guys chill.... this guy is only trolling no one in there right mind would comment something this stupid, he just wants to get a reaction out of you folks.
He, he spoken like a true American... no wonder why we are in deep s**t. No one can't deny this guy the credit for posting such 'innovating' comment. Good work!
I think Fareed is missing the bigger picture. China isn't "out innovating" us, they are allowed to patent anything that's patented overseas. And that's exactly what they are doing. What new invention has come from China recently? They are signing their names to ideas they didn't come up with and then trying to shove them in our faces in the form of patent counts.
The bigger issue is one of trade. How long are we going to allow a very manipulative (and hence very evil) opponent to cheat, rob, and steal their way to the #1 spot? We've been blinded by the quest for profits, and allowed our know how to be pillaged as a result. There should be trade sanctions against any and all violations of intellectual property. Especially the extremely obvious kind.
China plays by a different set of rules. Their rules are this: If they won't go to war over it, we will do it. It's that simple. You cannot talk an enemy like this into respecting your morality. They only understand one option. To them, it's just a game to get to the top and the ends justify ANY means. We should take this into account when dealing with China. They do not deal in good faith, they never have, and probably never will until there is a massive change in the government and culture there.
We can keep working harder at innovating, but it will always be easier to steal it than it will be to make it. Thus until we have some sort of punitive measures in place, that address theft of knowledge, which is theft of effort which may as well be theft of money; nothing else will work.
Having worked in the patent business for 23 years, I'll share an industry secret with you. The easiest patent to get is the one that makes no sense. Many foreign patents are filed in the US and because of the poor translation or lack of sense, are passed right through by the Patent Office. Because they do not mean anything, they are rubberstamped. Patents that mean something get a fight. This shocks some people, but it is not the Patent Office's job to write your patent, it is their job to make sure your patent does not infringe on any other patent. If your patent is senseless, it does not infringe. I have seen thousands of foreign patents that are translated overseas and are pure garbage. To "cut costs" these corporate goofs (restrained by executive orders) frequently refuse to allow their U.S. counsel to rewrite them and make sense out of them! It is a joke among patent attorneys to accept fees and not be allowed to utilize their expertise. Foreign companies are more inventive? Hard to say, read their patents and you will see that many are not worth the paper they are printed on. Thanks to foolish decisions by the executives.
Who are to judge if a nation is evil. Many say that we are evil, and we have people who certainly live up to that reputation..but the U.S .is not evil and the Chinese people are not evil. People like you will not make it in this new global century with that attitude.
>> 1st step would be to kick the asses of America-haters like Mr.Z.
>> Leave us alone and STFU
The crux of most such rebuttals. What is it about "Mr. Z" that alienates him so that there is a notion of an "us" that does not include him? He is an American Citizen and a day-to-day participant in everyday American politics.
People like you live off the fat of American innovation and entrepreneurship. Fareed and other intellectuals like him are what define that value. It's understandable that you cannot handle articles such as this because they argue for the removal of the stagnation constituted by people like you. So everything you wrote was a desperate cry for survival.
Fortunately, the general trend of the world is towards becoming a more tolerant and open-minded place. So your mindset is on the way out, to the same kind of marginalization as the neurotic homeless 80-something's in NY subways who snap at every colored person that they run into.
Agreed! People like him will simply not make it in the 21st century. This is a new century where America better become more globally intelligent and engaged with other cultures and nations. This is not just the government, but the American citizens who will "make it" in this century will have to do the same thing if they truly want to be citizens of a world power. You can't be a "real" citizen of a world power if you don't understand the world and do not at least try to engage with other nations/people from other nations.
Reallly? Really? Mr. Zakaria is known as one of our greatest minds. The special is not called "What do I think" because he has a panel of experts contributing–but the bottom line is that if a patient is sick, you don't give him chocolate milk and whoppers. You give medicene, strong medicene...sometimes bitter medicene. We, America, are in this situtation because of DECADES of politician giving the American People placebos of chocolate milk and Whoppers rather than strong medicene. The last stimulus failed because IT DIDN'T GO FAR ENOUGH according to major economists. Health Care reform is weak because IT DIDN'T GO FAR ENOUGH (since tort reform and a single-tier payer system is really what's needed to complete Health Care Reform). However, because of decades of waste and fecklessness–politicians benidng to the masses–and we the people, quite frankly, can be rather dense at times, proclaiming we want to control spending...until it hits where we live–we are in a BIG MESS. We are such an "Instant Coffee" society we have willingly turned the heavy lifting of innovation & manufacturing to other nations, all in the name of cheaper prices. However, the trade-off is that those natiaons are builiding jobs and wealth. Being a consumer-based society rather than a production based society, we've traded power for convinence.
Mr. Zakaria continues to prepare our collective minds for strong medicene. Mental midgets continue to scream, "You're not for America." Fools. If only we had more intellectual doctors to shake us and wake us. We need to Invest, Innovate, and Create (Manufacture) to regain our competetive edge.
Actually Mr. Dexter Dummy we are in a mess because we are still dealing with a recession brought on by greed and Wall Street and big banks and corporate america outsourcing american jobs to Fareed's home country.
thanks JohnLI. Dexter, you are spewing out corporate propaganda with every breath. I hope they are paying you for that.
Ummm no I have no need to lie. I work for corporate America and my experience is first hand. If you don't know that wall street and big banks caused the recession then you need to do some reading as to why the bailouts were necessary.
oh sorry gold one I misread your note and thought you were attacking me...my bad
Right! The real sickness is that we in this country deny this truth....we are sick with our own arrogance and ignorance. That ignorance is going to put this country on its sick bed, with the exception of a few who will build and innovate valuable products and services. I work with entrepreneurs-innovators all the time..and they are very productive. We have to get off the "junk food mindset" and take our medicine. Play time is over, and the more we bury our heads in the sand and blame the gov't instead of blaming ourselves for our own ignorance and lack of education and 21st century skill set; then we will be in even more serious trouble.
Here's the deal with Mr Z. Many Eastern Indians are arrogant and think of themselves as superior intellects, this is why so many of them strive to become doctors, etc, because they think that's what they are cut out for. They are also in love with America, American corporate culture and American success. For Indians like Zakaria, they simply cannot come to terms with the idea that they have chosen anything less than the most successful country in the world. I myself don't have a problem with it, nor do most Americans, I actually admire many European governments that strive for a better quality of life. I personally don't take kindly to people born and raised in foreign countries trying to tell Americans how to live. In case you don't understand...that means you Mr. Zakaria.
By your reasoning, you should never listen to or believe anything you hear on Fox News. Why? Because its parent company, News Corp, is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who was born and raised in Australia.
BTW, the second-largest shareholder in News Corp is Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi Prince who is the nephew of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah (and in case you haven't figured it out, his a Muslim).
John, you come across as ignorant and close minded.
Hello trolls.
So if someone agrees with President Obama, they are in his pocket? That's just a stupid, knee-jerk reaction. I agree with the President's policies, because I've studied history and know that his ideas of investing in this country is what will allow us to succeed in the future.
And CJ, taking money "from people who have proven records of creating wealth and jobs," If the tax cuts for the wealthy actually worked in creating jobs HERE IN THE US, then why, after 10 years, have so many Americans been laid off?
I'll tell you why: The wealthy are taking their extra cash and investing it overseas, where labor is cheap and environmental regulations are practically non-existent.
Go ahead, you Republican, tinkle-down economics sheeple, and continue to delude yourself that if we just give more money to corporations and the wealthy everything will be fine.
I prefer to deal with REALITY.
We have plenty of innovators in the US. The problem is that we have way too many Trial Lawyers, too many lazy SSI recipients, too many idiotic jurors, too many scaredicats, too much nitpicking government regulation and too many union work rules. We are doomed because nothing that should change will change.
Go move to China, where they don't have any of the things you complain about. Better yet, move to any third-world country – and don't come back.
A patriot would try to identify weaknesses in the country and offer constructive ways to fix those. Zakaria could well sing America's virtues just to keep getting his check and watch the country go down the toilet as other nations catch up, as they will inevitably do. A jingoist (ie, you) will stick your head in the sand like an ostrich, proclaim that all is fine and not make any attempts to address potential weaknesses in a country with great potential. Would you rather have a doctor prescribe you medicine, or have a soothsayer tell you all is fine? What is more important to you? If you feel that the US will always stay well ahead of all competition, watch any presentation by Hans Rosling on youtube about why the developing countries are catching up with the US. It's not bad policies but inevitable economics. And in case that doesn't fit your narrow worldview, keep in mind that Rosling is not a "Muslim US Hater", as many people seem to be insinuating for Z...
@badcafe: I agree. Zakaria is adult enough to show us where we need to improve. See, this is not time for the type of arrogance that has us blaming the gov't for all of our shortcomings..and this is not time to blame China for offering cheap labor. It is our job, as Americans, to get educated and develop a 21st century skills set that will prepare us for 21st century jobs (and yes we have jobs in America, but it requires a higher skill set and strong positive communications and interpersonal skills...basically you need to know how to get along with people). A true patriot will point out what we need to improve and prepare a solution for it. As long as we go around blaming everyone else and not blaming our own intolerance, then we will be a deep trouble.
Staying ignorant and getting angry is not much of a plan.
That is to say, your attitude is not very innovative, resulting in low paying jobs and low quality of life.
Zakaria is much more of *a "journalist"* than the ziotards that pay hasbaRATS like you to infest the blogs
Asian innovation is much better tha America is because, education there are cheap or free not unlike in america its free enterprise or free market that make education unreachable by the majorities. Like Healthcare, education should be on non-profit or under government programs...
What about "Spaced-Based Solar Power?" We can help solve the world's energy crisis with this technology. Go to http://www.nss.org for more information.
I have a provisionary patten pending status on my invention;-i wish to share;it will create lots of jobs;and i need help to get it up and running;could someone help me get in touch with donald trump?i have key words to tell him;i was told if i tell him in person,that he will drop what he is doing and prosue my invention;i got a letter from the division of economic development to show investors etc-,my verizon text only number is 423-834-5293-thanks cnn 4 your help to get this info out.
This is how you innovate. Create an idea, then manufacture it in the United States, where quality will be respected by all of our countrymen. Everyone will see a difference as to the quality of American products made in "another country"!!! Am I wrong?
"This is how you innovate. Create an idea, then manufacture it in the United States, where quality will be respected by all of our countrymen. Everyone will see a difference as to the quality of American products made in "another country"!!! Am I wrong?"
Look at Ford, GMC and Chrysler, and you'll definitely see a difference in quality, for the worst that is
We do innovate and create. The laws of many countries with whom we import/export demand factories on their soil in order to permit our sales. They learn (steal) our innovations and promptly produce their own for less money.
It is remorseful to listen to so many who would gladly toss aside all that our creative and working class have earned, because they need to compete with the destitute of oppressed foreign lands.
From a US manufacturer: Sorry, you are wrong. Price is most important with most consumers, especially in this economy.
I am an unemployed American and I have stopped buying foreign made goods altogether. I support US jobs and US workers. We can do what our government will not, we can force corporations to create jobs in the United States.
The question Fareed forgot to ask...
Why did the Soviet Union fail even with its innovation?
That should tell the "brilliant Fareed" that innovation alone will NOT lead us out.
Fareed and Obama believe in being "fair" and redistributing money from one person to another via the government.
All nations that have done this eventually fail.
So, the "brilliant" Fareed, is once again wrong and blind to what REALLY works.
STOP the government, reduce the size, and allow the people to grow the nation, freely.
I'd like to point out that most countries if not all countries eventually fail. China is as communist and as socialist as it can get and they've been around for a long time.
Being purely capitalist encourages greed and breaks the country into those that have, and those that serve those that have. Pretty good if you have. Not good for the 98% of the rest of us.
China is communist, but is also the most capitalist country in the world right now. A really odd combination that is working for now at least. I'm guessing something will give in my lifetime.
A very good point, sir.
Law that limit were placed in order to level the playing field. Woe to us, for not insisting the same for our trading partner.
Sorry to hear you're that not so good 98%. My condolences. Just as a point of reference, could you list the number of TV sets, cell phones, cars, and home sq. footage you have there so we know where we are in the downtrodden 98 percentile scale of things??
Thanks, and regards..
The Soviet Union failed by overextending its military.
The fall of the Sovjetunion unfolded with the death of Leonid Brezhnev, who already saw the gradual stagnation of the country caused by the corrupted and lethargic apparatchik. Nikita Khruschev was the father of the Russian space race against the U.S.
Innovations boost the country's prestige and help sell goods overseas. Right now the U.S. has unbeatable hi-tech weapons, that few countries can compete with. Still there's room for other focuses. Just keep trying!
so wait a minute. Wealthy people lobbying for laws that benefit them is also a redistrubution of wealth. But we never hear it that way on the news. But when government redistributes it, the crooks like you go crazy. Can't have it both ways. Someone, somewhere is redistrubuting wealth. Now, you can say they earned it, but at what price? WHo decides what's fair and balanced? If it were up to companies, we'd all be working for free with guns pointed at our heads. Would that not be a form of wealth redistribution? Where is the fine line drawn?
Don't forget how corporations only focus on maximizing shareholder profit, and anything else is secondary – this got us West Virginia coalmining towns, New England mills and of course Love Canal, Lake Erie and BP spills. Until we find a way to put solid checks & balances into capitalism, corporations will use people and rape our planet like a greedy virus. We wrote the US Constitution to put checks & balances on our government and judiciary in order to avoid the excesses that lead to tyranny – we need something similar for commercial enterprise. More bloated government regulation isn't the answer (duh!) , but 'free markets' without strong oversight or ethics isn't the answer either.
A purely capitalist society will eventually lead to 1% of the people holding 99% of the wealth. I don't think we want that. A purely communist society causes everyone to lose their freedom and seems to usually result in a pretty low standard of living as the government becomes that 1% with all the money. What is needed is a hybrid system - capitalism with limits for the rich and protection for the poor. That's basically what we have. Republicans call this socialism and are trying to destroy it, but they need to recognize that that's the only way it's going to work. European countries have caught on to this idea and are not afraid to take socialist measures in order to make good decisions.
Rational thinking like that does not belong here!
The Europeans have mocked the American version of capitalism for years. Can't blame them.
It was the previous govt that took the tax payers' money and redistributed it to the failing banks. The current administration just persisted with the same flawed policy. All the administrations, starting from Regan and Clinton share the blame for the predicament we are in. I am no Obama fan, but it does seem very unfair to put it all on Obama's shoulders. He didn't create the easy monetary policy that led to all these instruments based on house prices that no one in the world could value or understand; The infrastructure in this country did not start collapsing under his watch; the education system started failing long before he came to power (thought I think the Internet has the power to change this and reform the education system in America again); The Iraq war didn't start under Obama's watch; on and on the list goes. After all this, I can't believe that people want a small small govt. A small govt. works only in a purely capitalist society, we proved with the wall street bail out and auto bailouts that we are not one. Otherwise, we just get unfair distribution of wealth and industries with the most clout in Washington taking unfair advantage. Can we get to a pure laissez-faire capitalist system one day? May be, but it won't be the likes of Palin and Bachmann who take us there, we need someone with a vision and someone who can sell it to the people. I don't see anyone like that right now...
Deficit spending (poor government financial policy) started under Regan, not under Obama. What hasn't started is that every wealthy American (Republican?) needs to give up a little of what they have and pay for some real innovation, not financial or real estate speculation, but some real ideas. And quit cutting societal programs! The rest of us just don't have the money. We're busy paying for higher gas prices, inflated food costs, and life in general. Like the robber barrons of 100 years ago, the wealthy need to take more responsibility, and support society by innovating new ideas in whatever they do.
The Soviet Union failed because it wasn't good at innovation – and because they lost the economic war of attrition created by the military build-up. Our country's economy could afford to spend billions on the arms race, but the Soviet Union could not.
President Obama does NOT want to re-distribute the wealth; Republicans DO, in the form of re-distributing it UPWARD by cutting taxes for the wealthy and then balancing the inevitable deficits on the backs of workers and the Middle Class.
As long as Golfers,baseball players,NBA, professional football players make 1000 X more than teachers, educators,professors,scientists,innovators.... innovation will go south.
Then do something about it.
Start a boycott of pro sports and DEMAND they donate half their salary to education.
Really darling..... Why? Blacks are dominating the sports section? They contribute to their respective communities already...Rob them even that money for working hard in life thru squalid conditions without reparations for slavery? How about this? Why dont you grow some brain and balls, man-up and advise your fellow pals to go after WallStreet investment bankers with M-16's? They just rewarded themselves a record $135 billion for bringing down the American and World economy with $20 trillion of accumulated wealth just disappeared into thin air. They do this decade after decade. Create a bubble, burst it, make the profits and in the end make the US tax payers bail them out in the end by making sure they have their cronies up in the Treasury dept/fed through the revolving door policy, Government-Sachs as they call it... America is nothing but capitalism for the poor and middle-class and socialism for the rich/super-rich. Ever wondered why instead of concentrating on bringing these robber barons of WallStreet to justice, make them pay for their sins and enact laws that to keep them under check and avoid future disasters, the corporate media and republican tools for WallStreet somehow managed to blame (of all the people) the teachers/unions for this? It was another daylight robbery by WallStreet and where was your conscience? Traded it for your share portfolio?
Pete: Well said! All the Wall Street pirates should go to jail – and their industry should be regulated (and those regulations should be enforced) so that they can't ever wreck the economy again.
Is this anti-capitalist? Frankly, I don't care. If the banksters on Wall Street don't know how to make a buck without bringing down the economy, then they deserve to have regulations placed on them.
This is the best comment I've read in a long time.
I concur.
So true! I agree with you!!!! A manager at the In and Out Food Place makes triple than a certified teacher with a Master Degree and or PHD with a national and international expertise.
Amen to that. I'd like add on "as long as reality TV stars receive a paycheck."
Really? Because as I read it, people buy expensive tickets, travel, pay extremely high prices for concessions, and watch sports loyally on TV, and all that revenue goes toward that industry. Meanwhile, people seem to blame "overpaid" educators and their unions for our recession. So this is kind of what you call "lip service." It sounds good. It's not even as valid as a pipe dream.
Our country shouldn't bother with innovation because it is wrecking the Lord's creation. We should drive off companies that want to do research in biology; let countries like Singapore or the UAE out tech us there. We're better off as second best if it means we can retain our holiness. And there's no need to innovate in energy – we should just drill baby drill right here in America – better to support our oil needs with last century's technology than try to innovate new mechanisms. After all, the earth has been here for 5000 years – how could we destroy it?
This is the weakest and lamest attempt at cynicism seen in a long time. Please waste your time on other endeavours, and leave this for others.
I dunno – I thought it was a pretty good attempt at cynicism, and totally on target.
We are such poor stewards of the Earth, and such awful, narcissistic hypocrites when it comes to twisting our religious beliefs to rationalize are existing opinions, prejudices and fears.
I thought that cynicism was pretty well executed.
you are a genious ............ NOOOT.
Nice satire. Stephen Colbert? Is that you?
Why do we have to listen to Fareed Zakaria of all people tell us about "innovation"? He, the one with very outdated and demonstrably unworkable anti-American political views? That's like listening to Obama tell us that he has given us a train wreck of an economy and we are now just going to have to deal with it while he plays golf.
I think the notion is that "American" ideals may not be leading us to the best place. Try to wrap your head around that, and then please try to argue ideas based on their merits instead of whether they're "American" or not.
Don't confuse criticism and self-examination with being anti-American. That's the kind of no-nothing, reactionist populist claptrap that prevents us from ever adapting to a changing world.
Also, if were going to stick to facts; *President* Obama didn't cause the economic meltdown; baby-boomer greed did that. The current administration may not being making it any better, or maybe even making it worse, but don't pin all your paycheck-pain on the most convenient handy target... there aren't any simple answers to complex problems, tea-party no-nothing sound bites not withstanding. Also, President Obama takes FAR less holidays (golf or otherwise) than almost any president in living memory, so please go find a REAL bone to pick, ok? There's enough un-thinking mouth-offs yamming out their hatreds and biases as it is.
Also – (all) I referred to George W Bush as "President Bush" when he occupied the highest elected office in our country out of respect for that sacred office, even when I strongly disagreed with him. President Obama deserves the same level of respect while he sits behind that desk... to do anything less is disrespectful to America. Others may stoop to that level, but I never will.
Respect is one very lacking virture these days......i totally agree...it's sadly MIA.
@Michael: That's right. We need to look at ourselves and our "buy anything on a credit card" attitude. We also need to blame our rewarding ignorance and devaluing good education. We need to blame our rejection of getting the type of skills set that is in demand in this century..a skills set that matches the demand of a "knowledge based" economy.
It's not clear how much "innovation" helps when we end up hiring overseas people who work for beans to fulfill the innovation. For example, iPods and iPads – super popular, cutting-edge products? Made in China. Well, I guess it supports a couple of engineers in California, and at least Steve Jobs is getting richer, right?
Also, what do they want us to innovate that we aren't already? We've got innovative research, innovative medicine, innovative technology ... "Innovate!" is a pretty vague directive, as opposed to "Let's walk on the Moon." It's not clear who is supposed to do anything differently – least of all the citizens who have been struggling for several years now to even get by. Maybe we need more innovative politics. The anti-intellectual, anti-science attitude of a particular political party doesn't exactly foster innovation.
The Chinese government had a commercial on CNN that didn't run for too long. The theme was, American inventions and ideas – made in China. Apparently something got lost in translation.
This thoughtful comment stands out amongst the aimless belligerence. thanks
It's not even supporting a few engineers in California anymore. We've shipped those jobs off to China too.
Very well said, Dana
I agree – well said.
Zakaria is a racist. As long as there are people like him keeping racism alive – the economy will remain in a slump. Our economy is failing because we – as a whole – are failing.
Minority with an opinion is not racist!!!
I KNOW ! He hate Israel. CNN need to fire him.
Honestly I think it might take a racist to perceive anything about race in this article.
Honestly you should read some of his other articles. He practically promotes racism against people of Anglo-European descent.
It seems to be very popular to label any free-thinking non-white as a racist.
It seems to be very popular to label any free thinking white who has an opinion other than what is dictated by secular morality as a racist.
@RCRodriguez, if you are running a business, you will no think that way. The way you think is "how do I tap global resources to manufacture a good quality, cost effective and high value product and sell it in the global market for the highest price?". Understanding this business mindset, its upto America to define whatever position it wants to add value in this end-end process – idea generation, manufacturing, marketing, customer service etc. could be anything.. Doesn't have to be manufacturing only! Look at Apple. It taps into the global supply chain and yet is the poster child for Wall Street.
Just more of oblahblah's mouthpiece spouting off. CNN should fire this joke of a reporter-he is an advisor to oblahblah. Oblahblah talks out of both sides of his mouth-he talks about innovation and then turns around and puts so much regulation on industries that they cant innovate. Shut up already fareed and oblahblah and actually DO SOMETHING!!!!! This president is an absolute disaster and i cant think of a SINGLE person that is dooing better w/him in office!
Perhaps you think that saying "oblahblah" (an unfunny joke at best) over and over again is your contribution to innovation. Sorry, it won't catch on.
Yeah they do that over at Fox News all the time. You'd think it was just a bunch of kindergartners let out for recess. They seem to think calling him names strengthens their political position.
"Shut up already fareed and oblahblah and actually DO SOMETHING!" Take your own advice?
Private industry still innovates, but anything associated with the government and administrators does not. Political correctness has destroyed innovation in any setting where government has influence. The science funding agencies are no longer run by the best scientists, they are run by politically correct appointees. Those appointees consistently make poor choices in what to fund. We have vast sums going into topics like "quantum computing" which is a nonsense fad topic. Government funding removes the need to produce useful results. In private industry, fail to produce useful things you go belly up. With government support, you still give your science paper and go on to the next useless project approved by political appointees who have no clue what you are doing. Government control and lack of accountability for failure to produce useful results has destroyed government funded innovation in the US.
That's a broad statment, assuming private business is the only one who innovates. What happens when they form monopolies and stifle innovation by refusing to "change."
The internet and wireless phones are a good example of that. We are probably 10 to 15 years behind because of all the communication monopolies from 30+ years ago. There are plenty of examples.
Don't always assume because it's private it will be innovative.
Amen. Competition fosters innovation, not deregulation. Deregulation fosters greed, concentration of wealth, and economic disasters caused by the sale of subprime mortgage packages (too specific?).
By the way, quantum computing is not a fad topic. It holds the possibility of opening up unheard-of levels of parallelism in computer processing. It's about as "fad" as atomic theory or electricity when they were first discovered.
I guess all physicists don't agree. Some of the greatest scientific achievements in human history have taken place on government grants. I disagree completely with the OP (original physicist – ha ha ha) here. When business drives scientific advancement, you end up with people thinking a new iPad is some kind of new science, for example. Clearly, it's existing technology bundled differently. New science comes from NASA, the Manhattan Project, the military, etc... Businesses don't fund R&D unless it can produce a product. Most of the greatest scientific achievements did not produce a product, initially, so would have been cut by your philosophy of market driven R&D.
What is with all the idiotic comments on this message board?? From calling Fareed "un-American" to saying we as a country shouldn't aspire to become more innovative because that "would be against the lords will," the stupidity on this board is nauseating
Most Americans are just along for the ride. Why don't you be more honest with
yourself and admit it?
At least for the one I saw, I'm pretty sure the post saying we shouldn't innovate because that would displease the Lord was satire, a la Colbert.
You can't really innovate if your company goal is centered around what profits you make at the end of the next quarter. Many companies turned to moving their operations overseas or figuring out ways to turn their product into an excuse for pushing store credit cards. Yes, they would sell cheap stuff with a very low profit margin and expected to make their money back exponentially with 20% interest rates when buyers purchased on store credit. Why would you need to innovate in those circumstances?
Combine with that the way that most people are promoted within the company to the higher positions that set the course for the organization. It is a much different beast when you have Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, or Bill Gates in charge who actually understand their product as opposed to promoting a bean counter who had a business degree from Harvard and schmoozed their way up the ladder. In those cases, you create Enron, as all they know how to do is juggle money around.
I hear you.
I'm in the process of founding a new biotech company with two other students from my lab. We're told day after day by potential investors to bring 'grey haired' people onto the founding team who 'understand business'. None of us can actually work out what role such a person would play, since without understanding our core technology, they are just baggage.
Mark you are way of the Mark thinking the gray haired people are going to be a burden. Getting something that is promising in the lab and to translate it into something that is commercializable is a long tough task that requires experience and a different way of thinking. You can try on your own to acquire the skills very soon you will be grey haired and wondering what do these youngsters think they are. So take the advice and get the guys over 50 who have not only succeeded at establishing biotechs but also failed along the way.
Suzique, you hit the nail on the head on every count. Our brand of capitalism is dictated to by wall street and the US system is optimizing itself to beat these rules, ultimately to its own detriment in the global scheme of things. Looks like we need more and more companies to take a stand against trying to meet expectations set by wall street.
Now they're calling Fareed a racist!? I feel like we're in the Twilight Zone where fact is fiction and fiction is fact, reinforcing my opinion that the United States should change its name to "I'm with stupid."
I couldn't agree more Chris. Honest debate and discussion face continuous distraction from people that are paid to and or fooled to protect those who make fortunes corrupting our democratic process. These people don't care that they are destroying the United States and may be oblivious to the consequences of their actions (probably those paid only care about money and those fooled are unable to see the truth). We all know the mega wealthy behind corporations have unbalanced control over our country. As the U.S. is squeezed for increasing profits will there be anyone who can stop their various tactics, or should we resign ourselves to wearing shirts that say "I'm with stupid."
Not a racist... just another vacuous journalist.
Agreed, Chris. Come to think of it, Fox News should probably change their theme song. That's where most of the steam for these idiots comes from.
I cannot see how the US would rank the last in innovation in a list of 40 countries! It is still the #1 innovator without any serious competitors.
Exactly. It's almost as if imbeciles like Fareed and Chris have forgotten the
fact that most of the world's technology stemmed from our contributions
the past 200 years. Instead of stirring up nationalist sentiment and
self-criticism, these morons should apply for work at MacDonalds
and do something useful for society. Pathetic.
last 200 years??? what world are you living in? USA became a superpower in 1940s when all the german scientists migrated to USA. Name one US scientist from 1800s except for Edison.
Most innovations, famous scientists, etc. before the 40s came from Germany and other European countries. The U.S. was busy expanding and settling into the continent. There were a few innovators, no doubt, like Ben Franklin and Thomas Edison, but we were not a world leader.
Isn't it interesting that at a time when education is teaching more "thinking" skills and "creativity" and fewer facts and with less emphasis on rote memorization of information, we are becoming less innovative? Maybe that's because you can't really be innovative unless you have a huge base of facts and information on from which to draw.
Consider building blocks. If you want to build an impressive structure, which is more important? Knowing the dozen or so ways to combine the blocks, or having more blocks? The fact is, there probably are no more than about a dozen ways to connect the blocks, so you can teach those to apt students in about a day. On the other hand, once students know those dozen ways to connect the blocks, they can't do much with them unless they have a large number of blocks to connect. If we spend most of our time in education teaching the small number of ways to combine pieces of information but don't provide kids with pieces of information to combine, they end up being like someone who knows how to connect blocks but doesn't have any blocks to connect. And there’s really not much they can do with that.
If you look at research on creativity and problem solving, it seems that innovation often comes from recombining old ideas in new, never-thought-of permutations. But how can you figure out how to combine old ideas into new permutations if you don't already know a lot of old ideas? I suggest reading the article "Scientific Creativity as Constrained Stochastic Behavior" by D. K. Simonton (Psychological Bulletin, 2003). It suggests that innovation comes from a basically random process of combining and recombining pieces of stored information, kind of like would happen in a squirrel cage for a lottery. Every time you turn the cage, a new random number pops out. The gist of innovation is then to figure out which of those random combinations is worthwhile and useful, because of course a lot of the combinations are no good.
But consider that squirrel cage of the human mind. If you have only a few number chips, i.e., pieces of information, there are only a few combinations that can be produced, thus reducing the likelihood of producing a worthwhile combination. On the other hand, if the squirrel cage is stocked with a huge number of different pieces of information, then the number of potential combinations increases exponentially, and the likelihood of producing a worthwhile combination likewise increases. That is, the likelihood of innovation and technological advance increases.
So if our educators spend most of their time teaching students how to think, but don't give them *information* to which they can apply their skills in thinking, it basically kills any chance at creativity. The idea that rote memorization is a waste of time is a misnomer perpetuated by people who do not know what they are talking about. Look at societies like China and see if they don’t value rote memorization. Without an abundant store of knowledge of what already exists, it is impossible to find the boundaries of the already existent and push beyond it into new areas.
People in power who scorn rote memorization are essentially destroying our education system. Of course rote memorization is not the be all, end all of education. It is not all that should be taught. But it is absolutely necessary. It may be hard work, and not everyone can hack it, but it is essential.
John, this is an excellent piece. Yes you are right... rote memorization is not innovation but it is necessary
to develop the skills needed to ultimately innovate. How can you learn to read & write unless you first
memorize the alphabet? But this is hard work and most Americans are terrified of work. So the truth
is that this country is, indeed, in trouble. But not for the reasons Fareed and CNN would have you
believe.
Think.
Agreed, information is necessary in order to have new ideas, but I strongly disagree that rote memorization is the way to go. Students need to be required to know a lot of facts but then be *tested* on them in very challenging ways. Exams should be essay-style instead of multiple choice; students should be trained from the get-go to process and integrate large quantities of information rather than to just memorize it. Students need to understand what they're learning. Rote memorization does not accomplish that.
John, great thinking. I do teach Critical Thinking Skills to college students. It is important to be creative, original, and innovative. AS you said, rote memorization is essential for progress and success. My students are craving for innovation and can't wait for "more blocks to connect".
Bit early to blame the removal of memorization from the education system. I work in IT and the older people who never learned how to understand concepts, only how to memorize steps to reproduce an end result are the biggest time sinks. If one item changes, if the open the wrong base folder for instance, rather then hitting the up folder button and correcting, they close the application and start over.
The first students to not be taught by rote are just hitting adulthood now, a few years past college age. Mark Zuckerberg, Jack Dorsey, Amelia Fraser-McKelvie.... the new generation is innovating.
@JohnCBarlow: That is 20th century thinking. Rote Memorization is a part of the process, but you better have creativity and flexibility in thinking to even make it in this century. If you are stuck on memory, then if anything changes, and changes quickly, then your response will be "well, we have always done it this way". That won't cut it in this century. You have to understand why things work, and what happens if they don't work....or you will be the equivalent to an old fashioned "outhouse" instead of a modern day toilet. You will be unable to use your creativity and ability to think on your feet and think in a new direction quickly when you are hit with an unusual problem that requires a new solution. That is where innovation and creativity is needed.
The only innovations that will help us are the ones that address our problems.
Perhaps in 10 years we won't be as stuck in traffic (think fewer traffic lights and more network-controlled, self-driven vehicles), won't be importing as much oil (think electric cars that get 500 miles per charge), won't be paying as much for electricity (think variable demand-side pricing for electricity and more wind turbines), won't be paying as much for education (think online classes for high school) and won't be as sick (think health care managed as well for everyone as it is for athletes). We have a long ways to go, but a new gadget or website won't solve anything.
Legalize marijuana and create millions of new jobs, and free tons of innocent people from prison, and lower taxes.
Oh and heal/cure people from just about everything including CANCER, and save the forests by using hemp paper and hemp fiber which is stronger than the tree paper/fibers.
The government wants to kill all of them, and so does Big-Pharma.
Illness = profit.
Health = nothing.
Peace and above all else… love!
has anyone ever asked Fareed or Obama why they think they can touch the hot plate and not get burned, the way every other country that has touched the hot plate has?
what makes them think that THEIR idea of redistribution in DIFFERENT and will succeed?
What?
The efficiencies of innovation starts in the private sector and our specialized educational institutions. Why not cut 30% in unnecessary and obsolete funds in mandatory defense spending for the next ten years ?
This money – about 5trillion dollars can be directly invested by our government to grow emerging industries in the private sectors. Yes our government invested in banks with toxic balance sheets. Why not directly invest in companies that are healthy, would create thousands of jobs for our country with a possibility of their future values going up to 400%.
The fact that China will outpace us in patents is not a surprise. Over the past 10 yrs+, we have not only shipped our "unskilled" jobs overseas, but our technical / engineering expertise as well. This has been done in the name of higher profits and higher productivity. Young newly educated engineers are getting their MBAs early in career and are instead becoming general managers / project managers. Likely project managing their teams in China and India. The result is a severe technical knowledge drain to other nations.
As long as you have unfair monetary policy and are able to get labor / technical expertise on the cheap overseas, I don't see the tide changing.
Agreed. What FZ is not addressing is what happens after innovation what happens is production and that goes right to China. All we have here is fast turn proto type work. FZ and the entire media share complicity with the government and wall street for the systematic defrauding of America. Viva la revolution!
Agreed. My company is doing the exact same thing. They started out by outsourcing postions that could be automated or did not require significant brain power to India. Recently they have been outsourcing innoviative positons from the US to India as well. I am seeing the end of US as an innovative nation.
Have you looked at what it takes to file a patent? It is expensive, and the form's requirements are not easy.
The center of innovation is gradually moving east to India China, Korea and even North to Canada and it has nothing to do with where the innovators live because they still live in the USA. The ability to translate innovation is stymied in the USA by the obstacles to financing and the regulatory requirements. Conditions like job creation, taxes, full employment benefits, a large number of restrictions are appropriate for established companies not for innovative startups and small business.
Indeed!!
When you innovate for a multi-national, who is that helping?
How about pulling a plug on 2.5 conflicts we are currently in? Do you people realize what kind of money it’s costing our country? $1,202,548,770,389 That’s a big number, and its growing every second. How much innovation can be done with that? Let’s face it these wars got nothing to do with our freedom and do nothing for our middle class economically.
Amen. Imagine how many people you could send to college with that.
Actually don't imagine. Assuming $40,000/year for college for 4 years, 7,515,929 people.
My comment refers to U.S. patents.
How dare this Indian communist tell Americans how to innovate! Perhaps you should return to your home country and lecture your people on how to FEED THEMSELVES!
And your home country is?... Unless you're Native American, I don't think you have a foot to stand on.
And honestly, why do you racist people attack the person instead of the ideas? Start paying attention and you'll notice how many people complaining about Obama attack *him* but not the ideas he's pushing.
I dont think innovation is regulated by the US or for that matter any other country or individual under the planet.
God has given free will to Innovate and venture out in thw world. Are you a Christian bro?
The Paris Hilton's of the world don't know how to make money. Their parents know this which is why they're trying to shield them from losing their wealth and power.
Hey, we won WWII and the Cold War. We don't have to do a single thing again, ever. Time to kick back, be dumb, and rest on our laurels.
Fhfhjfjhfjd
Electric cars/battery technology woul ]d be the number one way to innovate and save energy at the same time.
American kids have all they need- iPods, cell phone, computers. They are not motivated enough.
-]
I agree the US isn't what it used to be in terms of creating the "next big thing". One thing is for certain, we cannot expect to fix the problem when our schools are not even close to integrating technology into their curriculum. Dropout rates have never been higher, students have become less engaged (a.k.a. bored) and our schools are literally still complaining they do not have the money OR teachers to integrate technology into their systems. Today, every state in the Union has laid-off teachers by the thousands. THOUSANDS! I think we need to get our priorities straight and build a foundation for the future of America – and that future relies on integrating technology into every subject and every classroom. 20+ years after the dawn of technology that changed the world, and the United States only has 10 States that require technology training or testing for teacher re-certification in technology-related professional development. (Dept. of Ed.)
if there is one thing the internet taught me is, people will do anything to "stand out." It can be something trivial as colors or some new shiny sound. ANything....
The school system and work environment don't foster any of that. It's standard routine. Come in and go out. No questions asked. No wonder students are bored to death and employees seem lazy and unmotivated. It takes more than corporate profits and "shrink goals" to motivate employees.
Get with the program.
Fareed...lets make Fareed leader of the world. LOL.
@ tcifelli...he already thinks he is.
I call him oblahblah because all that he does is talk and talk and often times contradicts himself from one speech to the next-u idiot!
umm... i think he also passed a huge healthcare overhaul and captured Osama bin Laden.
he didnt capture Osama. He's taking all the credit. The bush administration have been working in this for a decade with information. It just happened that Obama got elected just when the bush administration were close in capturing him.
all the bad things that happened from 2008 onwards are because Obama is a fool. All the good things... well..because we had a genius president from 2001-2008... right?
Okay then, here's the grown-up phrase you will want to use: "President Obama, who often contradicts himself from one speech to the next while seldom taking action on his words..."
Now was that so hard?
Innovation here is all but impossible for the little guy. I have a patent but large companies infringe on it day and night, and without a multi-million-dollar war chest, why even bother? Monopolies are killing America – banking, media, etc.
The principal belief behind Marxism is that the bigger producers will destroy all the smaller producers in time...ah-hmm Home Depot anyone?
The writer makes his living off of opinions and everyone one knows the old saying about everyone having one. Why doesn't the author innovate rather than do what anyone can do,; give an opinion. I give my opinion free. Fareed Zakaria charges CNN; which; earns money off advertising; the costs get passed down to the consumer. What a water of a human being – an opinion commentator for media. Fire him and how many people can you take off unemployment for the waste going to his salary.
He probably would not care because he's got his rich parents money, how do you think he got to Harvard anyway.
What the writer fails to realize is that the advancement of technology is increasing in an EXPONENTIAL fashion. Is it a bad thing that it is happening PRIMARILY on a global scale rather than in just the U.S.? (It is happening in the U.S. as well, however we are beginning to be outpaced) I would argue not, simply because I identify myself as a human being before I identify myself as an American.
With that said, innovation is "lacking" in America because of the polarized way of thinking in the American people. We are not the hardworking and driven people that we once were; rather, those ideologies are dying out with the older folks of the baby boomer generation. Rather than promote education and self-improvement, the American society promotes stupidity (insert semi-retarded American pop-icon here). That is not to say that there aren't innovative people in America- look at Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, and the greater research institutions like MIT, UT Austin etc etc. However, these ideals are not promoted the way they once were. What makes it worse is that instead of fostering efficient education programs (like countries such as Sweden), the U.S. public education system is FAILING. Instead we chose to fund things like the bailouts of greedy corporations, counter-productive wars on drugs and terror (how are you supposed to win a war against the concepts of drugs and terror I'll never understand), and incentives that we feel we're entitled though as Americans, though we really aren't. Not to mention we have the lowest tax rate of all developed nations (and we still want to push it further down?).
The main issue with our "lack" of innovation is ya nationwide sense of entitlement and corruption. Until we can find a way to cure these ills, we'll be stuck as "one of the most innovative" countries, rather than "the most innovative country".
It's all about priorities people, and at the current moment, America is failing. Big time.
I agree with you 100%. Well said!
You make some good, and some less than correct points. As far as the good old days and the so-called boomer generation forget it. The good ol' days weren't always so good (Billy Joel) and the boomers are a huge drag. You see I was raised by a lady born even before the so called "greatest generation"... and I am an X'er. Also, hard work doesn't lead to innovation. At my age I have created and innovated more equipment for industrial applications than most engineers 20 years my senior. The problem is about American culture – which you do alude to. If we want to innovate – we need to take risk, learnedness, knowledge and mix them all together in the mind and heart of creative people. This is just no longer part of our culture. It died some time ago.
Let's see... if someone has an idea during the time they work for another company, that company owns it (Bratz dolls and Matel for example). If we look at the education system: either you are college bound or headed for poverty... no alternatives exist anymore. If you are not an academist, no longer are there trade high schools, or apprenticeship programs available (unless you get onto reality t.v.) for those who aren't going onto college. Nearly all of the so-called experts in this country now are graduates from elite universities. We have become a country of educational snobery where anything less than a college education is discarded and those without those credentials are discounted and less than tolerated participants in the discussion. Have we forgotten that this country was built from the sweat of the every-man; that people fought to come to the United States because opportunity was so readily available? Now we have a system that has no room for anyone that does not have ivory-tower conformity and where real-life experience is seen as "less than." In addition, there is a whole population of those with learning differences that are systematically shut out and are therefore hugely over represented in prisons. Welcome to the new class system.
You are right. Government is the biggest business in this country that includes bureaucracy, prisons, wars and healthcare.
The question of innovation is actually a moot point in America. We are so dumbed down at this point that most Americans cannot even apply rational thought to develop an innovative idea. And no one is seeking innovation – America is all about the status quo so that wealth can continue to flow into the same few hands.
Indeed, we are only interested in “human herd” achievements, and have been taught to believe in such. We are NOT interested in individual achievement, which is now reviled, and which is where innovation has typically come from – single humans having a unique idea. Nobel Prizes used to be given to such great individuals. Now, multiple Nobel awards are given to underscore our belief that individualism is not to be respected but only groups of humans, where no one can be seen as “superior” to others.
The most telling example is that the Father of the Information Age is an American. On December 12, 1982, he put forth this idea that ended up transforming the world:
The Theory of the Information Age
The Information Age is a true new age based upon the interconnection of computers via telecommunications, with these information systems operating on both a real-time and as-needed basis.
Furthermore, the primary factors driving this new age forward are convenience and user-friendliness, which, in turn, will create user dependence.
User dependence is what will ensure the full implementation of the technological platform that will become the foundation for a new economy, and dependence upon information systems is what will eventually distinguish the Information Age from the Industrial Age in the same manner that reliance upon mass production manufacturing techniques distinguished the Industrial Age from Agrarian Society.
Do you know who he is? Do we respect him for such a contribution and hold him up as a role model for innovation and accomplishment for our children?
NO. The answer is “No.”
This so-called “search for innovation” is merely eyewash. If we really wanted to inspire innovation in America, we would acknowledge that the Information Age is a true new age and hold a world fair and associated conferences to create true excitement about innovation and the future. But we just don’t care.
Our intellectual level is “tweeting” and “liking” on Facebook. Do we really think such a dull-witted mindset can compete against the intense intellectual focus of China and its ambition for raising China to greatness and world leadership? NO. Let me repeat that: NO.
China wants innovation. America wants the non-innovative status quo. It’s that simple.
Agreed.
True.
Disagreed.
Eh...no. Ideas are created based on need.
I agree with the folks who have commented that the schools are not adequate. I would not say it depends on high tech training or any other specific career training. As a charter school organizer, I would say the difference in the students of today and students who use to make America a country of innovators is the ability to think. This factory school system teaches to students to follow rules. The more we set rules and try to make them learn a new technology, controlling them with high stakes testing, the less likely they are going be to be able to create the future we want. Brain research supports this. All that is being learned about how a brain develops and what it needs is being ignored by the education system. If the spirit of a child is supported, the rest will come naturally.
8 words for govt bureaucrats to always remember if they want innovation: private sector, profit motive, less taxes, less regulation.
Oh yeah that's a real good idea. Want to buy some mortgage-backed securities?
China files patents? On what? How to copy and steal other patents? What does China build that is not a copy of something else already invented and built somewhere else?
paper and fireworks and finger cuffs.
I was warning my fellow Americans about this almost 20 years ago. As soon as I started seeing a mass transfer of tech and manufacturing to China. A clearer indicator occurred when semiconductor companies pulled their offices from the US and moved much of what they do to China. Including the parts stock.
But this is a complex issue which includes the cause and effect of idiots like Mr. Z. who wallow in political correctness and hate America first ideology. By allowing the decimation of American society by urban 'culture;. illegal immigration and liberal , leftist school policies we have eliminated ourselves from the running. Spending our days sending each other pictures on Facebook and following the latest dumb celebrity of the week while our competition is learning, educating their kids and WORKING.
We don't pay ANY attention to where the things we purchase are made. It's too late now. If you wanted to buy only US goods you would have to go without so much that you may as well move to Pennsyvania, get a horse and buggy and grow a long beard.
But truly.. Mr. Zakaria.. YOU are part of the problem. It is pompous of you to every write articles like this. You haven't been here long enough to know with it is to BE an American. Maybe your kids will. But you haven't
So don't tell America how we can regain anything because you barely know OR respect what we did have.
Well...Dont your big corporations need bigger and bigger profits each year so that shareholders like you can make money? How do you think they can make those profits? By paying you US wages with decent benefits or by shipping jobs overseas? You cant have it both way darling....It is called globalization... so quit complaining on some random immigrant for our collective greed...WallStreet just wiped out $20 trillion in this Great Recession and are on their way to create the next big bubble. Do you have courage to do anything about it? Our competitors were once the biggest economies on the planet since ancient times, before mommy Britain put an end to it through aggressive colonization. They are just regaining their lost ground once again. Nothing can stay at the top forever. Until that reality sinks in you are in store for a lot more of heartache than this.
It's a good read but I think you need lay of the Dems a bit (or did you say liberals?) They are patriotic too, just more rational about it.
We are losing our edge because the education and corporate system stifles creativity. It's all about memorization and following the "standard" path. Any deviation or questioning of things will result in a failing grade or some other for of punishment.
The USA is still #1 in innovation and has the most creative engineers. Unfortunately the products are produced in China where a contract manufacturer pays $6/hr for skilled factory workers and $2/hr for unskilled. India & China are turning out huge numbers of engineers compared to the USA but to date they are not creative or experienced. This will change over time to the detrement of the US. A fundamental problem I see is that US kids have a very good (easy) life and are not motivated to work hard to get an Engineering degree. Even if they do they can look forward to okay pay and 70hr work weeks. On the other hand in India or China the alternative to a good education is working for $6/hr in a Chinese factory and living in a dormitory. That spells motivation.
Ignorance and greed... combined these two,and it always adds up to failure. Personnally or globally and all levels in between. Choose whichever scale applies.
Innovation is hard work. Why should anyone do that when people like Obama and Zakaria will then label them merely "fortunate" as they come to redistribute what the innovator has produced? To the poster who said our tax rates are the lowest among industrialized nations – you're wrong. Our corporate tax rate, in particular, is the single highest among major nations. And it's not even today's rate that matters. The payoff to innovation is well into the future, and as anyone can see the Democrats intend to raise rates on the "fortunate" because they are, first and foremost, class warriors. If you want to know why innovation is sagging, it's because former innovators like myself are on strike. Pay for your own damn health care.
What economists, politicians and business elitists bent on profits did not factor into their out sourcing rationale is the reality that out sourcing moves problems that would otherwise be solved domestically elswhere and as a direct result will not even be thought of domestically. There is no innovation in absence of a problem to solve. Make international trade fair and we will be back in the driver seat of innovation. But to accomplish fair trade we would first have to eliminate the reach that lobbyists unfairly enjoy and implement political finance reform which are fundamentally the real reasons why we are witnessing the destruction of our way of life, not the lack of innovation.
No, this is how you innovate: first, stop taxing innovation so much. Second, stop regulating innovation so much.
That pretty much sums it up. Free people will take care of the rest–just get the hell out of the way and it will happen, as it always has, as it always will.
Innovators don't like to be told what to do by people who are stupider than they are. That means politicians.
Is this just rhetoric or do you have an example of how innovation is taxed? I try very hard to be innovative in my workplace. So far, I haven't got a tax bill for it?
"The Greeks had the brains, but the Romans had the drains."
"Scientists did not put a man on the moon; engineers did."
STEP 1. Stop this obsession with funding science, science, science, science, science. Fund the engineers. Support engineering education.
STEP 2. Teach the arts in H.S. to inspire the imagination.
Teach kids critical thinking. Teach them to analyze a problem, think through how to solve it, and then solve it. Reward those that solve it. And, for heaven's sake, don't reward those that try but fail. We need to teach our kids that getting most of the way, only to give up, isn't almost as good as getting there. I can't think of a more important skill that kids need, yet it is the one most obviously lacking.
"don't reward those that try, but fail" EXCELLENT POINT!
Agreed.
Exactly... What is unbelievable here in the States is the social position of engineers (BS, MS, and PhD)/technical people. It is a tragedy. Most of them are very frustrated and pressured. No one was listening until China is beating us. We were supposed to be surviving on “finance business”. I was told the age of making things were over, it was all managing money (we thought we had). We all know what happened to us because of that belief. Anyone remembers those arguments now, making them lately? Not really, even though it was only a few years ago. There is none or only a few people in the U.S. Congress with engineering degrees. Innovation is an engineering job. All the people in the Chinese Polite Bureau are technical (all or almost all from one place). Why not ask engineers what to do when talking about innovation, why limit ourselves to only software and IT – the New York Times thinks technology is IT – check their webpage? The amount of money that the U.S. government is pumping into STEM is very very high already – so the problem is not money, or even brains. It is lack of brains and leadership in right places.
Fraud, crime and corruption undermine innovation. I have software that helps companies secure their systems. Because I pissed off money launderers for mexican drug lords and a multinational firm that helped their bank, I have been black listed. It gets even worse but Americans don't want to hear about the fraud, crime and corruption. Americans look the other way if there is a chance that their job or life might be impacted. We just watch another football game and the problems go away.
p.s. After I pissed off the money launderers, the City of Los Angeles decided to tax me at 20% of my gross. (None of my competitors had to pay city taxes, this was retaliation for pissing off the money launderers.) I was getting $24K jobs that I outsourced to New York and Texas companys, I made $4K for arranging the deal, reviewing the work and preparing the reports. With the City of Los Angeles tax of 20% of the gross, I would have had to give City of Los Angeles the $4K I made and take an additional $800 out of savings to pay the abusive tax. Since I did not have enough savings for the abusive tax, I just shut down the business and layed off 5 people. The criminals are in charge.
Innovation is still there. Uncle Sam puts up so many roadblocks and senseless regulations that it becomes not worth the effort.
True change to one's life or country or world wiill only occur by changing the one's state of mind. Then acting on it accordingly.
Saints won a Super Bowl...... I can die happy
Recently I have been going to Europe on work assignments. I am not actually making any money in Europe. Instead I have been participating in activities over there to educate myself. I am finding tremendous innovation in my field (a niche within software development) over in Europe. There is a true spirit of cooperation and everyone works to common goals. The results are undeniable.
I have virtually given up on the American front. While in Europe I find myself amongst people better educated than myself, when I come home I have to work with people that are totally undereducated. I spend my time in contentious meetings where it is clear that the objective of many is to stall progress if they can't get it their way. Most often, the people that resort to those tactics are the least qualified to take such a stand. But in America being qualified to have an opinion doesn't matter. So in the end there is seldom any real progress. The results of millions of dollars of investment in the software the team I work with is miserable. For every person trying to make real progress, there are 5 people trying to drag them back.
I believe that we are no longer "one nation". Somewhere along the way, argumentation has been placed ahead of cooperation. I think that this comes from the news and the TV we watch. Arguments are shown and glorified all the time. In Congress, politics is more about arguing than about solving problems. It's not surprising. Lawyers learn the art of arguing in school. I bet that few of them had to master macroeconomics in order to get their degrees. Is it not fair to "argue" that Congress is the least effective part of the federal government?
I'm not convinced that the problem is innovating. The problem is more fundamental than that. In the 1950s Russia beat us to space and we pulled together to jump ahead. Today China, India, Japan, Europe are pulling ahead of us. Our response is to argue about it, deny it, demand changes that won't change anything, grandstand, and do a myriad of other things that only contribute more to our decline than reverse it.
I try quite a lot to have "intelligent conversations" with my fellow Americans. Many people are polite and listen to me – and I know they are bored. Nobody really has the time or interest in being intelligent. It's so different in Europe. We're paying now for the dumbing down of America that started in the 1960s.
My problem with this article: It's not a news story; it's an advertisement for a CNN show.
The very first network/Internet message was sent between UCLA and the Stanford Research Institute in 1969 – it took another 30+ years before we figured out how to use this innovation across borders. Ironically, our schools still do not have curriculum that has utilized this very same technology on a regular basis.
Dgdgxjjnmxk
Anyone who thinks legalizing pot is the answer needs to move to New York, where a similar tax is imposed on tobacco. The state is still broke and the economy is still terrible.
It could be argued that the answer lies in shifting funds from benefit programs toward education. During the space race period there were far fewer government handouts, so there was a risk involved with a lack of education or productivity. Moving some manufacturing to domestic sites and our elected officials taking a pay cut to save those funds for innovation programs would also help. True, prices would go up considerably with higher labor costs but the consumer base would still be willing to pay, if the manufacturing sector helps revitalize the economy and said consumer base is not living as paycheck to paycheck as they are now. Any elected official from either party who gives some of their salary for the greater good (the payout idea above) would also expect a huge PR boost.
America's innovation has declined, because the government of the United States of America, has sold out this country to the NON FREE TRADE AND GLOBALIZATION CRAP, ALONG WITH THE FOR PROFIT WARS!
The EU, aka, THE IMF BANKSTERS, are stealing our taxes and undermining our sovereignty.
Every state in this country, should institute a state bank! Kick the to big fail crooks to the curb, along with the crooked, career politicians!
A better solution would be if we could educate every American in the value of credit unions. If every American would close their bank accounts and move all their banking over to credit unions, it would send the banks a message. I opened a bank account when I left home and got a "real" job. My banks convinced me within days to close the bank account and open a credit union account. Now, 26 years later, I still have that credit union account. I have moved jobs, cities, and there have been lots of changes in my life. But I love my credit union (BECU in Seattle). I will never ever give up that account.
I am an engineering student here in America. Does anyone know how come 75% of my professors are educated outside US, mainly arab countries?
Because our American schools, have been dumbed down to the lowest denominator.
American schools, mainly cares about educating and promoting the illiterate and liberal arts major, or DEGREES IN H O R SE S–H T! You know, the ones that MOST GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES HAVE!
Just like with the housing bubble, government was not only encouraging, but insisting that everyone in America, deserved and QUALIFIED for housing loans THAT THEY COULD NOT AFFORD and allowed people to buy into the scam!
Education is the new housing bubble in America. GOVERNMENT (Obama) wants everyone to get a college education, WHETHER OR NOT THEY CAN AFFORD ONE OR INTELLIGENT ENOUGH TO GET ONE!
This corrupt country sets people up for failure, be it through political gaming, or downright fraud!
Government keeps people deaf, dumb and stupid for a reason.
I'm sorry but that's the dumbest lazy thing I've heard. Whoever you are, you're what's wrong with society. When will you and people like you ever take accountability for your actions, always blaming someone else for their and your problems. No one is holding a gun to anyones head forcing them to go to college or buy a house.
It's because they cannot get a better job in the business world and the colleges like the fact that they get paid less than an American-born teacher. Basically nobody wants their job either.
CNN PLEASE fire Fareed Zakaria I can not watch when he is on. Every time he says "Israel or Israeli" you can see the hate he has for these people in his eyes and evil smirk. Fareed Zakaria if you could see my eyes and smirk when I look at I always pray "Dear God, please let CNN see this hate monger as he truly is and fire him," I hope that day is REAL SOON !!!
You innovate by letting people build that better mousetrap. If schools and industry REALLY want innovation – then encourage students to compete in science fair competitions, dissertation contests, etc. Allow students to showcase their talents in an enviroment that encourages creativity. If a student feels that they have come up with a better way to do something – then allow them to do so. By doing so, you will find out which students are REALLY interested in the subject matter and you will more than likely find the students that you can have a lively and interesting class session with. Nobody wants to sit in a boring class where there is no lively interaction between students and teachers.
This focus on innovation and patents is misguided because the US respects intellectual property and will respect Chinese patents even when the Chinese are ripping off the U.S. left, right, and center. But IP in China is not worth a bucket of warm piss because to them it is not a matter of right and wrong. They can steal, they have, it is profitable, and they will continue to steal. 2 good examples. The Geely trademark in China. It is an upside down Toyota symbol. From 20 meters away, it look like a Toyota. But Chinese court says ' we don't think so.' Viagra patent ripped off in China with the express approval of Chinese judges. (Viagra patent has some weight now after China backed down a picometer, the way they Chinese relent to Geithner's pressure – they pretend with a big fake Chinese smile).
"First, get rid of all the lawyers" comes from a character in a Shakespeare play about Utopia.
Well, that utopia is China! Mao eliminated all lawyers in 1959. They've been allowed to come back but they are expected to be lawyers as the Nazis used lawyers(li) lawyers with a choice to get beat up and put in a concentration camp or ii) stand up for justice).
I think we have to go back a little bit in order to move forward... I was watching history channel one day and saw a series on how things were made... one episode dealt with water irrigation for an ancient india city... engineers, in trying to solve a problem with irrigation (today), looked to the past to see how they did it back then and then incorporated some of those techniques with modern technology today.. so that is what America will have to do if it wants to be the leader in innovation...
Here's something to think about.. how about an innovative idea to transfer excessive water from one location to where it would be needed the most... lots of places here in the US get droughts.... other places get flooding... why not have our engineers rig up a special irrigation system to move excessive flows of water/rain to where it's needed the most?
There's one area to start "INNOVATING" on...
Dr. Zakaria has a BA from Yale, a PhD from Harvard and NEVER speaks/writes without a slew of research behind his opinion. Further impressive, he is not an academic, he's very pragmatic, and despite what some sillies on this board may write, Fareed is not a decided Obamist. he's a brilliant man, frankly, we are fortunate that someone with his aptitude would be hired by CNN, generally the show hosts have an average level IQ and just slightly above-average level of education. This guy, despite very well being a genius, van communicate himself well and has a wealth of fresh ideas.
Fareed Zakaria QUIT BRAGGING ON YOURSELF.
OK we get it you're from India please shut up and go back home.
CAPITAL in a capitalist environment will win out one way or the other. Either a superior innovator will succumb to a Corporate offer of riches beyond his(her) wildest dreams OR Corporate interests will use every "capitalist" means at their disposal to capture or crush the innovation rather than lose control of the market.
Money makes money for Money and as few others as possible.
No matter how it is framed, "prosperity" isn't intended for just anyone who is smart enough and who works for it. And crushing the life out of an under financed opponent is hardly a task.
I like it.
WW2 Govt stimulus got the USA out of Great Depression.
Defense stimulus spending got USA out of early 80's recession.
Govt stimulus equivalent to Great Recession is needed now.
Once economy is going strong, there will be plenty of investment.
why bother it seems to me that mega corps should handle this they are the ones that sucked our good ideas dry;bought the companys shut them done prevented mom and pops from competing and thentook and reproduced the ideas in china for slave wages; why becuase china said if you dont make it here you dont sell it here; and mega corps only seeing $$$ signs said ok ffffff america; so i wouldnt think of another idea for them; let them and china figure it out; there such genuises ;but i do know that i will not buy anything from them; how did the government let these corps gain such a monopoly great idea import people export jobs they are all so brilliant ; mean while they got a problem houston its called world war 3 so it looks like they are loosing customers everyday; do to death and dislocation and debt
America is a nation known for decades as the best nation to innovate. We have the brightest and the best skilled labor in the world with top class schools, programs, opportunities, freedom to innovate and innovate anything we like in a shortest amount of time with the resources readily available. If we are so good where did we go wrong?
Our economic condition and negative publicity has killed our confidence. Entrepreneurs are more worried of losing everything if they fail which has automatically affected our ability to innovate. We have the abilities and values to succeed but we need our confidence back by being positive. How do we get this moving forward?
Have 100% support from our Goverment, public and private sector promote entrepreneurship so every single individual in this country come up with new ideas, innovate new products and services. Brand our nation as the Hub of innovation and create this country as incubator for new ideas and provide financial assistance to take the scare of failure and rebuild confidence.'Create programs to find partners and assist in setting up startups, create team of experts nationwide who can assist in providing consulting.
We will be back with proper support, focus, assistance from our Government, Public and Private sector and kickoff series of entreneurship programs nationwide, create educational programs for kids to keep them competitive.
OK, was going to pass this one up, but can't. Fareed, words cannot describe your ignorance, stupidity and lack of common sense. How dare you, one of the most non-innovative people in journalism, make yourself the expert on innovation. You have not a clue. You do not "dictate" innovation. You do not "decree" that people will now be innovative. Smacks of the aristocracy of the middle ages in Europe. We in America should be personnally and professionally insulted by your arrogance. That sort of thinking and methodology is what has put us in the current state that we are in. You want innovation....engourage it, grow it, nurture it, let it grow, let it fail at times (it will become stronger) and most of all.....g e t o u t o f i t s w a y!!!! We will not become what were again till you and others stop micromanaging this country and our lives.
Oooohh....little steveee got paranoid again.
I think our govt should fund a war against ignorance and stupidity. To seek it out and destroy it wherever it may hide, a planetwide war to educate everyone. Hows that for military spending?
The problem is that in olden days people had the need to survive and that only happened by creating or innovating on things that were either not existent or were out of their economic reach. And sure the American dream is based on the idea of the self-made-man, but do not forget that people depended a lot more on cooperation with each other to survive and nowadays the main driver of society is individual competition which results is a huge waste of human resources and of loss of opportunities that others in other countries become able to take advantage of (be divided and be conquered). And everybody wants to be rich fast because nowadays it is easy for everybody to see how the gap between those who have and those who do not have is increasing, and it becomes a lot more difficult to be content with having enough to lead a decent life, meaning one where people can satisfy their needs and also have access to time for themselves. Time and time again it is mentioned that people in the US work harder than others (even in Germany, the second larges exporter in the world with a population of around 80 million people) and yet are the ones with less rights to time-off. When people have to spend all their energies to work for the mighty dollar to either make ends meet, and have no expectations to work together with others but rather to have to go at it alone, how can you have the time to innovate and create someting new that will be truly usefull to others and turn that idea into a reality.
China isn't the number 1 innovator; they're the largest counterfeiting and pirating nation. In China, people are afraid to even mention business ideas or new technology until it's released in fear of someone copying their work. The U.S. patent system goes too far sometimes, especially on business process and trivial software patents like the "buy now" button patent that iPhone developers are being sued about. Though, China has few protections within the country. Also, part of China's "innovation" is theft of American innovation. If Americans want to setup a factory in China, they're often required to give up intellectual property and trade secrets to the Chinese government. There's also still little respect for copyright in China and over 95% of Windows copies are pirated.
That should be a reason for companies that want to settle in China not to do it until there are enough guarantees of enforcement of the rights of ownership of their innovative products and concepts. Until then companies should refrain from sending their production lines to China. If everybody is going to China under those circumstances then everybody is in equal footing. Trade freely with those who follow the same rules and force politicians to enforce the international agreements that China is part of. If China is not part of such agreements then products that are 'made in China' need to be blocked from export until that happens. In the meantime manufacturing jobs remain in the nations that follow rules of fair competition. Or products that are 'made in China' or in other nations for that matter under such circumstances should receive levies that make them a lot more expensive to import than those made in natoins, including the USA, that follow international trade agreements.
US can never innovate at a speed, that can sustain #1 economic status of US. We need to be the richest nation, to continue to invest in innovation and generate money out of it. If you want to innovate...."innovate a world trade logic" that stops shipping of industries out of US, while still remaining under the broad guidelines of free trade. I personally feel...let there be "free" trade, but every job shipped abroad should be levied a "social development charge" that will be used for educating a young american kid....that includes motivating him...and paying for his education. All rich nations combine will have a go "custom duty/ social development charge of 50% that will be used for developing the new young scientist community.
I think the real problem can be found any time you turn on the TV. What you see is people fighting on reality TV, news anchors talking about Twitter and facebook, shows on TV dedicated to videos on the internet. People are only interested in seeking out the next oddity, in watching the next gladiator battle at the Colosseum while munching on Cheetos. It's a lack of motivation. We're culturally driven to be constant consumers of entertainment rather than producers of ideas.
I'm glad you're focusing our attention here. I think we have a limited future unless we solve the problems of our educational system, as difficult as they may to resolve.Almost all other problems are correlates to the fact that we don't love learning.
Here's an innovation for the drought/ flooding problem: hundreds of workers with buckets, trucks and purification tablets take the water from where theres flooding to where its needed. Creates jobs and can be implemented immediately. No research into an irrigation system needed.
If we really need to innovate then lets start by upgrading education in America. Children need and deserve the best we can give them and that does not mean more conflict in any form... it means we need to make education America's number one priority and spend our money accordingly. If only our Congress could understand this simple point then America could immediately be on the right path to financial recovery.
At the core of the problem is the nature of people. Without a vast enlightening of the populus and desire to root out greed and ignorance as the wholly destructive characteristics they are, we will most likely destroy ourselves.
I could not disagree more with this article. America has not lost its edge. We continue to innovate more than ever and are still the world leaders. The issue is that the rest of the world is developing fast and catching up. This is ultimately a good thing, at least for the US economy and standard of living. Of course there is a security risk if hostile nations acquire advanced weaponry with growing wealth. Such risk seems to be outweighed though by the peaceful sentiment that comes along with economic development.
the rest of the world IS hot and heavy to "catch up", and when they do, america will grow into the full fledged mewling kitten with no claws that it has already become. we will be like israel, surrounded by third world monkeys with IT certifications who desire nothing more than to sink the ship called america
So you would have the rest of the world remain under-developed? Just look at our enemies. North Korea, Iran, Venezuela...not exactly economic heavy weights. World-wide economic development is the road to peace, security, freedom, environmental stewardship, and sustainability.
Why bother innovating when the work resulting from it will only be sent overseas?
It's my observation and belief that Innovation has stifeled in recent past due to a large number of technology corporations, after gaining some success, get bogged down in process and protocol. More and more time and human resources are being hired developing processes and protocols intended to manage engineering projects and programs, a result of which, more often than not, dilutes overall productivity. Yes, creating process and protocol appears productive on the surface, and some is required, but we've gone overboard, it sucks the creative spirit out of innovating.
Yes fareed, to innovate we need to have the women all don burkhas, convert to islam and institute sharia law, then all will be ok. f-u
More comic book ,commie propaganda from the left.We have innovation ,that is still working now our industrial plants are getting shut down and the jobs sent out by congress and their opportunist profiteers. China is not flooding the steel and aluminum markets,US investment corporations are using China manufacturers to do so through inside trade agreements ,the US government is lying to you folks ,nothing new,throw the crooks out in 2012.
A practical suggestion to boost the US's innovative power & resources: when a foreign student comes & gets his/her Masters or Ph.D. at a US school, send them a congratulatory message at their graduation & also invite them to be fast-tracked thru to Permanent Resident status so that their training, expertises, & innovative enthusiasms all stay here...
What happens every time someone tries to innovate in this country?
Right wingers try to destroy them. "You want to make Arizona and New Mexico the Saudi Arabia of solar energy? How about we just send your America hating thoughts to Saudi Arabia and leave our oil alone!!"
Education has been systematically undermined for decades. The "cut taxes" approach to economy has left the infrastructure in disrepair, and is slowly but certainly destroying science and research. I am a research scientist, and every year I watch dozens of great colleagues leave for nursing or medical professions, simply because a science career has become too unstable and too poorly paid.
Consider the academic career. You finish a bachelor's degree. Then you go for about five years of grad school, where you are paid about 20,000 a year. You get your PhD. Then you go on to a postdoc, which now takes five to seven years on average; and you are paid 35-45k a year (all that education isn't worth much). You are usually in your mid-forties by the time your real career begins. And this is now compounded by the fact that you can lose your career at any point if the granting situation becomes too poor: all it takes is two years of cuts to NIH or NSF, and you could be gone, all of your work for nothing.
(And for those who will now mention industry careers, yes, you can find better paid jobs in the private sector. But innovations in the private sector are short-term: something that will lead to a money-making product within the next few years. The government-sponsored research is where real innovations are.
For example, half a century ago, a physicist gets a grant to study behavior of ions in the galactic magnetic field. His findings lead to some interesting math, that is picked up by nuclear physicists. They get grants, and tinker around for a decade or two, eventually producing NMR machines. These machines attract the attention of medical researchers, who get grants and tinker around for a few decades trying to image tissue. The end result? The government spent a few hundred million dollars on research, over several decades. And the research produces MRI machines, a multibillion dollar industry, with tens of thousands of jobs within the US – paying back the entire investment essentially once every month in perpetuity.
"Starve the beast" people conveniently forget this. The House attempted to cut our science and research budgets to an unsustainable level just a few months ago. If they eventually succeed, that will be essentially the end of America as the country of innovation.)
I agree that government investment in science is a good use of taxpayer funds. That process too is suffering from too much political involvment into funding decisions. The NSF and NIH grant programs have become a montage of political correctness...rather than a impetus to foster innovation. Scientists are put in a position of trying to innovate in spite of the political climate, rather than because of it.
Can't wait for your show at 5 today. I am a recent Inventor recruit of Nathan Myhrvold's Intellectual Ventures and have submitted twenty-three Invention submissions to his Intellectual Ventures company since mid-February! IV rocks! I was literally ready to file bankruptcy, again, and then found IV. I have now been awarded two patents and likely (hopefully) one or two more and I've just got started! There's no looking back now!! JLC http://www.webstarts.com/IamInventor
"America's future growth will have to come from new industries that create new products and processes". No, that's NOT the way it happens. Try learning a bit from history (as opposed to just getting credentials without ever really understanding anything...so in vogue these days). Innovation is almost always just better ways and means of creating and better forms or OLD products and processes in OLD industries. 'New' industries always start small, and stay that way for a LONG time, then gradually after generations of improvement, they become big, and eventually old, industries themselves.
No...out problems aren't psychological, or social, or even infrastructural....they're the over regulation and restriction of private enterprise by government, at all levels. Period.
Innovation in America is dead. The globalists have decided to import talent, rather than invest in home-growing the talent with education. it's cheaper to cherry-pick and import.
My name was Mickey. I was born with heavenly sequence recollection. I remember before birth. I am also a living amplification of consciousness. I have conquered the knowledge of man, yet am still in a world where the knowledge of man is man's own limit and where man's perception is based on arbitrary reference. I am more innovative in myself, than 10 billion people could be. The only way that could be proven is if 10 billion people were gathered in one location of conscious resonance. I am a time-traveler and a genetic key. I have performed many miracles and I have explored the collective experienced so as to bring cohesion back to this continuum. I am instrumental to the transference of divine relativity and a servant of cultivating our contextual ascension. I was born and raised in the USA. I represent the world's conquering bloodlines and the prosperity of groups and individuals all hinges on their regard for the invisible integrity that I hereby express. I have unlocked the living word and brought English to a new level. I have transcended mathematical thinking and overcome natural thresholds of ignorance and assumption by will and grace. I am the perpetual inspiration for perfection. I am the child of miraculous witness. I am the innovator of Love's own merit. I am the artist, athlete, student, model, companion, and guide of true synergy. I am the harmonious receiver. I am the generator of supernatural reciprocity. I am the unprovoked gift, the memory of ages. I am the consummation of consciousness and energy adapted to the interfaces of terrestrial translation. I am the original programmer. I am the competent one. I am the anointed and grateful one. I am the sensitive and responsive man of honor. I vibrate in awareness and resonate with honesty. I am the Universal discernment. I am the holy compatibility. I am the pure appreciation. I am the aspiration of the children. I am the adoration of the spirits. I am the wave that has lifted a generation. I am the patient observer. I am the call to synchronicity. I am the magic affection. I am the consecrated Champion. I am the healer of the sick and the domination of the wicked. I am the epitome of obedience. I am the glory of God. I am vessel of God's power. I am ambassador of God's Heavenly Kingdom.
This looks awsome. A fresh approach, a different angle. So often we get burried fighting fires and don't step back to think outside the box about creative new approaches and directions. I hope it lives up to its promise, but it's a great idea in any case.
Korea alone outpaces the US in innovation.. and Korea isn't even bigger than the state of Georgia.... theres a lot of great inventors in america, but we need money/funding... we can't do that if the banks are wasting our money and draining it down the toilet for their own selfish reasons..
I am naturalized US citizen writing this comment. If US companies stop outsourcing technical jobs such as IT, Engineering and science to China and India future Americans bright students will study those subjects and innovate things. Best students in USA now go for management, medicine and law. Even though these fields are required in society they can not produce mass production of high paying jobs in USA. Also the reason I think most bright students go for these areas they pay lot better than Sceince, engineering and even IT jobs. Why would you go 4 year under graduate technical fields costing public university 80K plus and private 150-200K and compete Indians and Chinese 1/5 of the pay there. Only think now I see American management innovative is how to our source every job in USA and they get big bonuses. Added problem is H1B/L1 visas who are cheaper to hire and they do not complain about long hours working here. Now you guys figure out why we can not be innovative
Roger I think you have the right idea in stopping all forms of outsourcing, remember though America is free country and the students will decide what they want to learn, which is not often based on need.
i also think its not just the students and schools... its the parents who don't know how to correctly educate and discipline their children to pursue higher education...
when you have all these stupid reality shows taking up childrens time from after school till sleep.. i really wonder what they're learning...
BUT THE MAIN REASON IS OUR COUNTRY IS DIVIDED... CONSERVATIVE WHITES AND DIVERSE LIBERALS.... just look at this post.. it explains a lot.... too much racism and not enough unity..
I am not sure that innovation is going to solve our unemployment problem.Only a small percentage of the population are smart enough and educated enough to really create at the highest level. eg only about 2% of the population has an IQ over 130. This is not going to help the other 95%+ if all the follow through manufacturing and development is outsourced to the lowest bidder usually some foreign country with very weak labor laws. We need to create a broad base of jobs for all ability levels..McDonalds cannot hire everyone.
America has been very innovative over the last few decades, but it has been in financial instruments (and look where that got us). The role for the government in this is to use tax policy to encourage real transactions and discourage paper transactions where nothing is actually produced. Tax and banking law changes 20 years ago did exactly the opposite. If we want to spur innovation in energy production for example, we have to make it more expensive to stay with the status quo (i.e. tax carbon). If we want more business to stay in the US, lower the corporate tax rate. Corporations only pay 15% of total tax revenue (45% is individual, 36% payroll (SS and Medicare), and the reset misc). In the end corporations just pass on their taxes as higher costs on their products so in the end it is still individuals that pay. Thus to keep jobs in the US we should end corporate income taxes all together (over a 5 years or so). This will lower the costs over everything we buy, but raise individual taxes.
An O bama hinchman. Fareed Zakaria is mister know-it-all and he's disgusting. He is an atheist, abortionist...oh that's right...required by CNN...Can't stand the man....He is in a cliche that is the ruling class....you followers are the ptoblem......he supprts the UN and any globalization that impair capitalism...why??? It impowers HIM and his 'friends" to control our thinking and eventually our lives...wake up!!! It is obviously apparent! Look at the morning Sunday programs....look who took Stepho's job...another anti-Israeli Obamaite...thw woman herself...MISS KNOW-IT-ALL. Wake up folks...thsese people aren't for YOU, no more than CNN...they are for THEM!!!!..
It would help if Z & Obama & their toadies actually knew anything about what innovation actually is before they try to "control" it and make it "work for them". Innovation is what America was all about before the country was hi-jacked by progressive liberals. It is millions of people trying millions of different ideas in millions of different ways, and then letting the "market", once again, millions of consumers, both private and corporate, winnow out the winners and losers. It is the ultimate in "inefficiency", and has absolutely no bearing on "social justice". Yet it is the very process that has propelled America to the top of the heap in general wealth, medicine, technology, and "life comforts" that all of these progressive liberal morons take for granted at every turn. If you try to harness it and "make it fair", you kill it. If you totally eschew risk, you kill it. If you try to direct it from some central, government-controlled brain-trust, you kill it. We did not get to the moon and totally kick Soviet butt because of NASA and central planning. We got to space because the president issued a challenge to the American people, and then harvested what eventually floated to the top because of the above process and the potential for tremendous personal reward, either of money or of bragging rights. Until the left, or even the controlling right, gets it through their heads that people left to freely pursue personal fame and wealth are the answer, there is little hope that America will either remain at the top of the technological heap, or ever regain any loss. Government is NOT the answer to any quest worth pursuing. It just makes things harder and harder for everyone.
When a country only raises their young to be soldiers, then how much thinking up stuff will they do? The smart people don't have children and the stupid and lazy have a bunch, what happens then? The country is full of stupid, fat, lazy children that have been educated by people who couldn't get a better job so they taught. No one wants to start businesses in the US because the dollar is still dropping. So if you have a good Idea, take it to China they have the money to back your idea. Anyone giving you money in the US is borrowing it on the back of future children.
A word from outside the US.
What the future needs is a system that takes care of all people. Not a system that takes care for the richest.
The US is in the rest of the world becoming an example of how not to build a society. The greed, the me and only me mentality, the "we are the greatest", etc. is almost pity full. You have 14% of your people on food stamps, create wars where ever you can, you have no money (the dollar is about to collapse), you have bad school system and the biggest energy consumption in the world. You are living in an illusion and are trying so hard to keep believing in the American dream that it is eating you up from inside.
If the US want to become an example than you should make a very big mind shift. You should innovate in a new social-economic system that actually benefits all people in the world. Not by enforcing so called "democracy" what ever the hell that means but by creating a peaceful society. Profit making, competition, greed, violence, power hunger are actually signs of weakness from a barbarian society. You have on very good experiment going on. It is called the venusproject. If you guys can make this kind of society work than you can call yourself innovative and evolved. Otherwise you will keep running in the same circles that already have proofed itself not to work.
If a government is run by crooks, and every law is worded to keep these crooks in power, and these crooks have control of the military, then the innovation will have to be how get rid of these crooks.
Dear GPS
The Holy Grail of power generation is hydroelectric dams. Water is collected for agriculture and electric power is generated.
Nothing is new about the tech:
The change needs to come in the application of funds, both in countries with centralized public electricity generation and distribution, and with private suppliers.
In the States, the big populations are far from the ideal sites for the construction of hydroelectric dams. So we need the States with the big consumption to approach the states with the sites, as public investors, together with industry participators and public investors, to finance, build and deliver source to users projects. Users are obviously people in all the states in between too.
As for Countries, the same applies; Japan needs to plug across the straights to South Korean. The biggest gap between islands is less than 80 km's. Some countries in Europe needs to join ventures with others.
Another 'innovation' is the payment of electricity accounts with electricity generation certificates. As a private investor in an hydroelectricity dam, I was paid 50% of my dividend in cash, and as per my request, 50% in certificates of generation measured in kwh. I pay with my certificate to my local supplier, who accepts it but takes a discount of 5%. The value paid is measured in kwh, not money.
Hydroelectric is a technology that is past its time. The environmental impact was vastly greater then anyone thought. Most of the big sites already have damns and moving to smaller sites will have a devastating impact on the environment. Fresh water will indeed be a major issue in the coming decades, but more damns is not the answer.
Why does Fareed hate his adopted country so much? Every time he opens his mouth or writes a column it is to take a kick at America. Maybe he would be happier living back in that s.h.i.t. hole country he came from?
So, the country that totally disregards copyrights and patents in its home is the number one filer of patents? This is a joke. You can be sure China is not the new innovator it is just the new copier of technology.
First Zakaria won't condemn Hamas and other Islamic movements, now he is talking about inventions, he must be an expert on all issues a very well rounded person.
And what has Mr. Zakaria innovated to talk with authority on innovation ?
We need to recalibrate and regain the spirit of innovation in all areas – science, medicine, business, energy, transporation, social services, etc. CORPORATE GREED is a real problem – compensation is not proportional to performance. When that changes, from the grass roots, innovation with emerge. Growth comes from the SEED and FERTILIZER at the grass roots. Today, there is a SMOKE SCREEN of PROFITS and MARKET VALUE being created in board rooms to please investors. That is danagerous. The people in charge at the top are becoming accountable to investors and shareholders – for all the wrong reasons. VALUE is created from the bottom up, not top down. The people who toil at the bottom are being laid-off, outsourced, right-sized, etc. This is not the way economics, business administration and free markets should operate.
It's all about the money!!! Look at the photo! Three years ago the US was the most productive workforce on Earth. Today we can't compete? I worked in Incandescent lighting. An industry primarily in Industrialized nations. US, Brazil, South Korea, Europe,etc. A dynamic industry. People didn't want Compact fluorescence. Laws had to be changed to destroy Incandescents. Ross Perot gets the last laugh. In 1980's the Yuan was 1.5 to the Dollar... today 6.48 to one! We will laugh last.. Keep our resources safe! It's all politics.
The LED is the future of lighting, Get over it.
Why is this man talking on one day about modern technology, while the others he is for old Islamic teachings?
What generation scheme has GPS joined? What scheme has CNN started? What scheme has Time started?
A small hydroelectric dam powering electric cars? a bunch of solar panels? artificial petrol? veggie oil for diesel? lpg gas for petrol? wave electricity generation? Underwater current electricity generation? sweat shop where poor people crank generators, by hand or foot pedals?
COME ON, – YOU HAVE GOT TO DO IT FIRST! dont you understand?
How is America falling behind? Twitter, Facebook, Apple, Zynga LinkedIn i'm sure more have been created here and have been gaining full steam in record breaking time. How much faster should America develop technologies and online services? Is building faster always a good idea? You may run into the problem that you wind up creating solutions without a problem and wasting money because you're always in innovate mode rather than focusing on cultivating the services you already provide.
With the exception of Apple, the other examples that you list were each largely the result of a single person's efforts. I am a software developer. I know a lot about software development. The past two applications I have personally built have rivaled or exceeded the scale of those applications – certainly at their outset. (I still think that twitter is more hype than substance) Go to the development centers for those companies now. Take a look at their innovation. I know that you will find armies of Indian developers, working under contract largely, doing the innovation now. As an Indian coworker mentioned to me last week, in the past year fewer and fewer Indians want to come to the US anymore. That salaries they get in India are now comparable and the opportunities in India now surpass those in the US. So we are even going to lose the innovation we get under contract to foreigners.
There are over 300 million people in the US. A handful of our citizens have given us Twitter, Facebook, etc. What about the rest of the US? When you consider the accomplishments of the US in the prior century, it quickly becomes obvious just how far we are falling behind. The US was once the leader, hands down. Not so anymore.
This will never work. Because Americans are too busy blaming the problem on either the Republicans or the Democrats to actually do anything about anything.
The author actually identifies the problem when he quotes the history: "America was shocked to find itself behind in the space race and began to put energy, effort and *billions of dollars into science, technology and innovation*. Less than 12 years after Sputnik, Americans landed on the moon."
I am a former Physicist with a minor in Computer Science who has held positions at NASA and other top places of employment. Projects have been defunded, grants have dried up and salaries for scientists have withered. I am a wasted mind that could be contributing to this innovation, as it is what I'm best at. Instead? I've had to reinvent myself as a blue collar guy to make a better living.
I find it strange that so many people complain about our lack of innovation, but when it comes to paying for the R&D, they are nowhere to be found.
I agree with the one caveat that you never know where the innovation will emerge. The Apollo program did not produce radical innovation in space craft, but in microelectronics. So I am less eager to see government spending on new "Apollo" programs as in general basic research.
Also if we want corporations to do more basic research or even applied research as opposed to product development, we have to structure the financial markets and compensation to reward long term gains instead of short term stock prices.
Politicians would rather serve their own short-term interests by buying votes with welfare cheques than serve the national long-term interests of the country by investing in research.
RIGHT ON- To borrow N OLD PHRASE!
Freed is MF Indian agent infiltrated in US media. He must be fired. We don't need a hateful bigot at CNN.
YUO are part of the problem ! !
Wow, the irony. Just who is the bigot?
MFK, you are a prime example of why the US is falling behind in the world.
“Innovation is as American as apple pie. It seems to accord with so many elements of our national character — ingenuity, freedom, flexibility, the willingness to question conventional wisdom and defy authority. But politicians are pinning their hopes on innovation for more urgent reasons. America's future growth will have to come from new industries that create new products and processes." These are just the characteristics that are abhored by large corporations. The future of America is with Americans and small businesses, but our government has sold us as corporate slaves. Huge amounts of tax dollars are lost because large corporations do not pay taxes, large corporations get many forms of federal subsidies, and large corporations buy up small patent owners to suppress their inventions. ARCO Oil and Gas Company had an enormous portfolio of solar and efficient engine patents that they suppressed for fifty years, now in the hands of BP. To protect bloated oil and gas profits. This is endemic in large corporations, to suppress inventions. They are a blight on America and the world. Americans are still inventive, they just need to throw off a few of the slave masters.
The most wildly successful company in recent years has been Apple. Steve Jobs has driven innovation and now Apple is one of the largest companies in the US. (Sadly, they manufacture products in China instead of here so we lose out there)
But Apple aside, look at the typical American business. There is zero passion for the products they produce. The executives for these companies couldn't care less about the products or their customers. They don't like their employees and readily move their jobs offshore. Instead of investing in innovation, they use their spare capital to buy up their competitors and put our of business. So we are left with large, too big to fail, businesses that produce shoddy products, contribute nothing back to our society, and overpay their executives.
As long as US business executives are in bed with our politicians, and as long as we don't suffer too much from the consequences, we are not going to solve our problems. I wish that one Republican politician would stand up and acknowledge being part of the problem, instead of just blaming the Democrats. I wish that just one Democrat politician would stand up and acknowledge being part of the problem, instead of just blaming the Republicans. I wish that that wasn't too much to wish for.
Dear Fareed: Yours is the only show I tune into every week. I am against Islam's ideology but I do like your show very much as you have only the best guests. Ok but here is a 'however'. Your interview with the Muslim Brotherhood Dr. ? was not had hitting enough. You could have had asked him what about the statement: about destroying the west from within and destroyings it's miserable house etc. You might have also given statistics perhaps in a later interview that gives just how many women were ever given more than 1/2 of the inheritance or what about stoning, or what about the right of Christians to build new churches in Egypt? I wish you would interview such people with Robert Spencer intow. Now that would be interesting. You made the MBH look like just regular good people.
Still I will continue to watch your program as it really is great and I can see when you push the ideology of your religion which is not a good thing for this world. People need to think for themselves and try to make a nicer kinder world.
I want a Fareed bobblehead doll...I would drill a hole in it's mouth and use it as an ash tray for joints when I'm done getting "inspired to innovate something." Who really cares if other nations are outproducing us in whatever industry. America is a place to eat, sleep, and build relationships. Life has already proved to be about more than trade, stocks, politics, money, and the overall rat race. Stop being so focused on what everyone else is doing wrong and worry about yourselves. That's how you impact change. By turning off all of this BS. Personal responsibility is dead, but it can come back. America has the opportunity to be something greater and newer than any other nation. Let the other civilizations go through their cycles of history and learn their own lessons on greed. History is bound to repeat itself as it always has. There's still an an opportunity hear for an abundant life. This generation simply has to step up. Stop griping about our circumstances. Pursue your passion that's all you can control.
Matt 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you."
you can't push innovation. Either you have it or you don't.
Push ? - No. Facvilitate ? - YES ! ! !
The only place where government involvement in innovation is useful are in the big, splashy, outrageously expensive things like going to the moon. This accounts for only a very small fraction of of innovation. The rest, most of it, is done privately, either by individuals or by companies, and the most effective way for government to promote that is by staying out of the way.
Unfortunately, staying out of the way is something that the present huge, intrusive, American government can't seem to do, and its omnipresent overbearing, over-regulating, intrusive, omnipresence is a major factor in killing American innovation. Why bother inventing something when, in order to make any money off of the invention, you know it will take endless rounds of lawyers, permits from an absurd number of government agencies, and more money than you have to pay for all these impediments to progress, all to take a risk on something that people might not even buy?
Yes, I know, "omnipresent...omnipresence."
It's been a long day...
How about innovation in planting and harvesting fresh agricultural produce, which is an $8 Billions industry in the U.S. Americans at the present time can afford to buy fresh produce and put on the table each day for the family. The HR 800 bill working its way through the house and senate will make E-verify component of the bill permanent, which requires all employers, including farmers, to verify the people they hire are legal residents of the U.S. This will kill farm industry because 80% of the work force hired by the farmers are illegal immigrants. These workers are paid not by hour but amount of work done (number of baskets of produced picked). The most efficient vegetable picker would earn about $25,000 per year. No legal resident would like this work because of the low pay and work conditions are dangerous. If farmers had to increase pay to attract legal residents, by fall 2011 most Americans would be paying about $4.0 per pound of Tomatoes, about $3.0 per lettuce, $7.0 per pound of potatoes. Innovation in agriculture is becoming a matter of survival. How one does it and who will invest?
Eventually (maybe within 10 years, very likely within 20) veg will be picked by robots costing far less then even a minimum wage migrant worker, and never getting tired or wanting a break or a raise or going on strike. Whether that is good or bad I'm not sure (since now what will those folks do?) but it is coming.
Your figures for the increased cost of produce to enable payment of reasonable wages are insupportable.
However, I completely agree with you in spirit : Technology MUST be brought to agriculture.
You ask how to build the appropriate automated equipment to plant and harvest. That is relatively simply : You simply go forth and DO it. The necessary technology ALREADY EXISTS : It has but to be bent to the tasks and commercialized - made readily producible and maintainable. This is all a mystery to the lay person, but get over it : It is all a matter of determined and intelligent engineering : Electrical/electronic, mechanical, and others.
As a parting shot - Open-Field agriculture is doomed ! !
Innovation is a result of investment. Investment happens when a dollar invested can earn more than a dollar returned.
When the government gets out of the way, people and companies will start investing and innovating.
The last thing we need is the government trying to pick winners and screwing the whole thing up.
You completely overlook the role of undeterminable risk.
I think you are missing the mark.
We've shipped our jobs overseas, and thus the TECHNOLOGY. What use a child become an Engineer only to be worked like a slave for a decade then mmmmaybe he gets 6 months more employment helping the rich elite pig move the plant overseas? Then he's slandered on job interviews and there are a ton of engineering students begging for an "internship" and more foreigner scum who might commission a bridge that'll collapse but boy will they work cheap.
Our problem is not working hard, nor education, nor talent, creativity, etc.
Our problem is that a tiny ultra elite are bleeding us dry because 15 mansions and 20 yachts aren't enough for them. If someone punched a hole in a dam to power a "Free" water wheel, they'd either go to jail or a nuthouse, yet economically this is what is being done.
All those jobs sent overseas, guess what, they actually cost more or less the same as keeping them in the USA. Piracy on many levels, bribery, low quality, toxic ingredients, even the cost of transport made up the difference. But they then got "Tax breaks and subsidies". And this is also as if it was "Fair competition" to have the job of a man at a legally run sanely paying shoe factory be moved overseas to a ramshackle building so a barefoot 6 year old girl chained to the floor can sew the shoes.
I've got a new word for people who ship jobs overseas. And for people who hire illegals.
Thieves and TRAITORS.
We don't need to get more educated and work harder and be more flexible whatever...
We need to get greedier, meaner, more isolationist. Get RID of illegals, mainly by targeting employers. Get rid of jobs being sent overseas on taxpayer dime. We'll have the "Unemployment" rate go double negative overnight. Yeah, let them raise prices, we'll demand even more wages and they won't have a scab, a slave laborer or a bailout. No one has the "Right" to be among the "Rich Elite", it's time we told our elite class that.
Wow -you should ship this all over the internet!
I am 69 years old and lived through the space race so you young twerps listen up! Innovation is driven by fear, intellectual hunger, physical hunger and esteem. We have created a society where it is shameful to win or lose, an ever expanding safety net = malaise, schools that parents mold to give A's -no one fails and the student is always the victim, and a country where beating the system, being a political elite, being a lawyer (all non-productive endevors), are admired and hard work, teachers, police are employment of little or no respect.
Until the political elite and this country can again tell the difference between respectable and admirable professions we are in trouble.
P.S.–the short-term future will belong to the nation/company/individual that develops a renewable/effectively unlimited low-emissions power source for cars. This may be as simple as a replacement for battery technology, but the problem is open-ended.
Lord do you think SMALL!
I was a innovator at a large Pharmaceutical firm. My job got sent to China for the greed of CEO.
This article has no facts, its a poor lead in to what may be a dissapointing show. Give me examples of the innovative patents that are being filed for overseas. Get a little more qualitative with your journalism. Everyone knows that China innovates on process and nothing else. I'm glad they're making the world more efficient, but they're hardly making it more innovative
Spot on, we as a country have been completely been resting on our morals. It's seems like corporate greed and capitalism has gotten the better of our country, it seems like the last two decades we've been reinventing the same things over and over. So we as a society feel the need to keep reinvesting in " upgrades" I personally think we look like idiots buying the same cellphones, computers, tv's etc over and over again. You know corporate America is laughing all the way to the bank, by slightly tweaking what you already own. Innovation is gone, you would think by now with how rapid technology exploded between the 60's to the 80's that we would of figured out ways to live on other planets or have flying cars, but why would we do that when you could make so much " money" doing nothing......
The innovative and new idea of the Universal Annuity System can save us.
Interesting article Mr. Zakaria!!
You say President mentioned the word innovation nine times but under whose administration we lost our budget for Nasa?
This is so typical of saying one thing and doing another.
innovation, alternative idea's, creative problem solving ... free thought ??? in this thread ... reeeaaaalllllyyy !
most of these posts don't even recognize "the box" let alone think outside of it ... and the junk they have surrounding them in "the box" is hate, suspicion, denial and vested interest in preserving the status quo at all cost because everything "outside" isn't understandable and foreign.
As a result of our steady devolution, our intellectual feeding of the immense complexity's of the world around us has been reduced to indistinguishable gruel, 10 second sound bites, 160 character tweets or kindly corporate infomercial's or newscast delivered into our homes by our wonderful friends of Citizens United. And our free market will offer us reassurance and solace that everyone's life will be better, safer and easier.
We were led by a chainsaw wheeling cowboy with a foot on a log on a ranch, a guy that you want to have a beer with, because he know about you and is workin for you. We elected individuals that pitch one thing then aligned themselves with those that provided a bought and secured future (hint: it's not there constituents) ... the lesson; "how to cook a frog" the grade; D
the world is big and we are only 4% of the population
the number of china's top 5% students exceed ALL the students in the US school system
the breakdown
India is not far behind sharing 20% of the worlds population. doesn't concern you ... ?
670,000 foreign students attend our universities, up 20% year to year for 3 years now , 60 % are form China ... this is 5% of our students, climbing 1% per year ... how long before students become teachers and what about our university franchise's THERE ? a little concern?
we rank at the bottom of the innovation index as stated, and among 40 developed countries 15 year olds, the US ranks 25th of 40 in math, 12th of 40 in reading and 20th in science ... doesn't it concern you ... yet ?
... if these are the facts, and they are, how does this thread come close to dealing with the facts this is article is promoting? do they enable or broaden the conversation about the problems ? do they generates ideas about a solution ? ... which is EXACTLY the point of the article ... and the problem in this country ... the lack of critical thinking and social intelligence ... that would be our lack of education coupled and ethics ... and what then is this thread ? or comments like "1st step would be to kick the asses of America-haters like Mr.Z " ... it's lines in the sand, planted flags and just more junk in the box ... word out
Always in motion is the future.
Do or do not... there is no try.
May the Force be with you.
yoda
Finally... Someone with a brain and know how to use it.
There would be far more innovation in America if this was once again a country where small business ruled. We need to break up our giant, too big to fail, businesses. We need to stop allowing large companies to buy up and put their competitors out of business.
Imagine what would happen if you took all the dead and rotting giant trees that we called American business and instead we broke off lots and lots of new small businesses that we planted to replace the rotting giants. We could make thousands of businesses out of the few that remain today. The employees of these new businesses would suddenly feel that they had to perform, but would also feel a rush of adrenalin that would drive them to perform.
Take GM for example. Create a company that builds automobile engines. Create a company that builds automotive platforms. Create a company that build automotive electronics. Create new companies around each brand – Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Opel, Vauxhall, and Holden. Set them up so that they have enough dependencies on one another at the outset, but send them on paths to autonomy. Do the same at other automotive companies. The fresh non-corporate thinking would lead to a rebirth of the automobile industry in the US.
Do the same thing to companies like HP, United/Continental , and Macy's. Give us our choices back. Smash up Goldman Sachs (well actually just smash it up – don't try and seed anything out of that evil mess). Break up banking so that there are once more local banks that care.
American would be so much better if we could undo the result of over merging.
Above all else, Americans must realize that they will not find new ideas in their Bible. That old book will not produce any technology or business paradigm. It will not provide answers about the world around us. It is, quite simply, obsolete.
Not true, the bible contains the remedy to man's ills. Namely loving your neighbor as yourself. Until we can learn to do that, we will be nothing.
The US will not be competitive again, if we do not stop activities against human intellect and rights (doubt? check out affirmative laws), government inability to set sound policies, taxes and criminal laws (doubt? check out IRS, SEC issues), and ease up the burden in its population and businesses.
Jobs and business opportunities are not a matter of government or Supreme Court distribution, but an inventive activity by a business or an individual. Every other view is against normal flow of life, such as socialism/communism was.
The US will continue its corrupt and corroded path otherwise, and meet its economic demise, like the USSR did.
Affirmative action isn't wrecking our capacity for innovation nearly as much as the evangelical Christians.
Affirmative action has wrecked those who feel they need it by telling them they can't do anything without the government's help. Affirmative action is one of those policies directly related to our inability to innovate.
Looks like there are a lot of people in denial on this forum. Zakaria has pointed out a matter of a fact, the economic competitive edge in today's world is no longer tilted to the favor of the few old players (countries). Other game players have entered the playing field and the rules of the game have changed. Those who have had the opportunity to travel the world widely like myself can attest to that fact. To adapt, old players must learn to accommodate the new players and acknowledge that changes in the rules of the game are inevitable in order to mount a competitive challenge; anything short of that will result in risking a continued economic plunge. One cannot just wish away the problem that is staring them right in the face, especially when you can see it and feel it pinch your pockets, eat up your savings and placing you on an uncertain path leading into an unknown future. The best bet is to join the Zakaria's of this world and look the problem in the eye.
For us to continue to lead in innovation and technology, we need to support President Obama's plan to invest in education, infrastructure and science. That's what has made our country great; not the Republican idea of cutting funding for society, and replacing it with a third-world, dog-eat-dog mentality of only the top 1% owning and controlling everything, while the Middle Class disappears and folks live in poverty.
Innovate what? What does this world need? Clean water? A way to get rid of our trash. More food or less people? But when I read all of these comments I hear an awful lot of people saying that a lot of the mess is because whatever group is in question usually they have low morals and ethics. The rich getting richer, the poor being lazy, people wanting everything for a cheap price, and stealing of ideas and copying what others have done and then reselling it. Perhaps leaders ought to help their people or governments help a nation become more moral.
I think the reason we've lost our edge is we've taken away the reasons for innovation. By teaching our children that they deserve everything they get, always give them awards for nothing, and teach them that they need to rely on the government for their every need, we have created children unable to think for themselves and we have removed from them the impetus required to be innovative, namely the ability to think for themselves and to struggle just a little to encourage a desire to improve.
I thought this was a terrorist article, becaus of his name. Maybe he can get his brothers to stop attacking the Western World and we can save money to innovate. He should do an article on his own series of flip flop nations.
Actually he is an Indian-American. I was not aware we had a conflict with India.
Why innovate when you are taxed to death. US has highest corporate tax rates in the world, and you expect us to stay here and innovate? We look to Canada as a model of relative stability but they have much lower corporate tax rates. I know it's not 100% about tax rates but that's a BIG damn deal when it comes to companies wanting to move forward and invest in themselves and their workers. What duplicity there is in an administration who wants to 'move forward' but we are held hostage to taxes to such a degree we have a hard time not slipping back.
I am in small business,and every time I'm late its a horrendous fee.Like they living off of us!
Mr. Zakaria is partly correct about innovation - Most successful larger enterprise in the world now is Apple .. No debt, millions of fawning customers, excellent management team .. USA however had been blessed with the environment that fostered innovation AND provided an open marketplace .. Wildly spending government, interest groups which divert mainstream focus, and, disruption to our capital markets, has limited credit for entrepreneurs .. Congress is partly to blame for that. Term limits and a constitutional amendment requiring ALL elected officials to live by the same parameters as ordinary citizens is necessary. If they wih to dip into their own pockets to pay for medical care, fine let them spend family dough. SAlso, no more life time pensions for senators and representatives who only go to DC for one term. It should be earned on a sliding scale like every other jamoke in this country. Sick & tired of WashDC a-holes.
China, India, and many other countries are chasing a carrot in front of them – the hopes of their exciting economic future. America's carrot seems to dangle behind us, a memory of a better past we wish we could reclaim. As long as our focus is rear-looking, we will continue to wither away from global relevance as we demonize our ascending global competitors and blame them for doing exactly what we should be.
Is there any subject on which Fareed Zarakia does not have an opinion? Why does CNN gush over him so?
Hellooooo, Zakaria is a pundit – he's supposed to have opinions.
Check out that picture: How about replacing that incandescent light bulb with a led light!
Attention Fareed Zakaria: Large number of patents does not equal innovation. In fact, abuse of the patent system can stifle innovation.
It is not surprising that America is slipping away in research and development. There are multiple reasons for this (of course, the politicians all will argue it is the other party's fault or blame it on the usual whipping boys) that we Americans need to accept and begin to work at changing.
The first thing to accept is that our society has abrogated any sense of acceptance of those who are intelligent and think differently from the normal. We encourage the berating of "nerds" and "geeks" because they aren't the accepted normal American. If a kid reads a lot, he or she is a bookworm and is made to feel inferior (by both adults and children). I have known several parents over the years who vilify thier own children for not being like "Johnny" the football star or "Janie" the cheerleader. Our media celebrates the athlete who skated through school, rarely attending classes, and the foul-mouthed, grammatically-challenged rapper and the body-obsessed, money-focused woman (Kim Kardashian or Paris Hilton, anyone?). Our media never celebrates the brightest men and women among Americans. I would die of a heart attack if I were to see a network interrupt its normal programming to ask what school the valedictorians in its state are going to attend. But we do it for football and basketball players, most of whom can't put two words together correctly or solve a simple math problem. Name another society where they pay a athlete $20 million a year or a movie actor $20 million a movie or a CEO $100 million a year, while cutting the wages of its teachers who are responsible for training the future innovators of the country.
The second thing Americans must accept is our fear of the intelligentsia. If we don't understand something, we tend to fear it. Yet we support those who seem to be more like us. How else can you explain the persistence of mental-lightweight Sarah Palin in our national discourse? If the schools are failing, we blame the teachers, not the parents who don't encourage studying at home. We don't encourage our country's artists and philosophers, in many cases shunning those who would question the status quo. As a society, we tend to quash free-thinking in favor of lock-step agreement with the shouting-heads on the radio or TV.
That gets us to the third thing we need to acknowledge: the lack of free and open debate of the issues facing our country. We no longer LISTEN to each other, taking a "my-way-or-the-highway" attitude towards everything. Our politicians walk the party line, rarely accepting that there might be a better way and NEVER compromising. So we have a stagnant government, where our politicians love to point fingers at the other party, but never take responsibility. We Americans likewise tend to see life through the "winners/losers" blinders. However, true innovation comes from a real give-and-take in discussions, debates, and decisions. By listening to all thoughtful suggestions, maintaining an open-minded consideration of all of the facts and evidence, and compromising for better and more encompassing solutions, we give ourselves the best chance to advance forward as a society. The best innovations have nearly always been the children of necessity and teamwork.
We need a ground-shattering shift in our society if we are to begin to re-establish America as the best country in the world. We need to start investing in and celebrating our best and brightest. We need to push education and stop celebrating the dumbing-down of America. We have to stop encouraging bad behavior ("Jersey Shore," "Teen and Pregnant," "Toddlers and Tiaras," "Jerry Springer," "Jackass," etc.) and focus on positive elements in our society. We need to get the mass media to stop perpetuating uneducated attitudes and ways of speaking (remember the "Where You At?" ads?). We need to start teaching politeness (again) and listening skills to our children, and we HAVE to challenge them to work hard at school. We need to stop hating our teachers and start recognizing them as the heroes they truly are in our society. We need to end the hate-the-opposition and poisoning-the-well style of politics. We need to encourage debate and compromise instead. We need to end the top-down focus on our society, instead we should support more of the in-your-garage types of invention that used to drive this country. IF we do these things, we have a chance at regaining our status as the most inventive and industrious country in the world. Unfortunately, I can't see these things ever happening. Maybe I am a pessimist, but I believe we have walked too far down the path of deliberate ignorance to ever turn back. Here's hoping I am wrong.
Unfortunately, your major point does not bear the facts of history. The putting down of nerds/geeks/bookworms is nothing new. When we were more innovative, we're geeks held up as people to admire? Hardly. If anything, one could argue that at the present time, it has never been cooler to be a geek.
As you suggested, we need to pay teachers more but not because they currently deserve it. We need to pay more to attract smarter teachers to replace the far too many awful ones.
Sure, history is full of geeks who have been persecuted: Galeleo was excommunicated for his insights and Darwin has long been vilified, for example. But for many years, inventors and scientists were celebrated in this country. Edison was one of the biggest celebrities of his day. We all know Eli Whitney, Stephen Fulton, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Ford. We used to look up to the innovators in our society. We used to judge universities on how many research grants they earned. Not anymore. Name any innovator in the last twenty years that America has celebrated. Name one American scientist in the last twenty years that Americans even know. Yet I bet you can name most of the idiots on "Jersey Shore." We judge universities on the football team or which school is the best "party school." No, we have lost our way in America.
@tdbark: Thanks for responding. The great folks you mentioned are famous in large part because they created multi-million dollar enterprises. Today, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are household names for the same reason. Most modern inventions today are as glamorous as 100 years ago because they are highly technical advancements that are beyond most people's understanding and have large groups working on them instead of the romantic image of one man working tirelessly in the basement to hammer out a new idea. That's the way it's done now (Mars Rover, GPS, DNA computing, HPV vaccine).
I, too, hope for the day that our brightest are celebrated along with movie stars and athletes but I'm not holding my breath either.
I'm also very proud to say that I cannot name the cast of the Jersey Shore!
All you need is commom sense and not a rocket scientist!!!!
well written and a I couldn't agree with you more. A good perspective of several big facets of the problem we are confronting as a nation. When big and "complex" systems like climate change, economics, ecology, etc are reduced to overly simplistic drivel, passion plays, political and religious banter or complicated ploys of smoke and mirrors by power players and guru's, the facts are completely disengaged.
this is good for if the objective is obfuscation, but bad for actionable information, critical analysis, group think, collaboration and ultimately the collective society. how we are not pouring money into the education system and targeted programs like alternate energy and smart grid, high speed rail is beyond me.
The free flow and open system of (factual) information and communication breeds innovation ... so as we as this society becomes more concerned which city's housewives are more desperate, who's the celebratory in rehab and Darwin got it wrong ... others are reverse engineering our society, investing in education here and abroad and building our stuff ... and ostensibly beating us at our own game ...
It would be interesting to see how many people that posted actually invested in watching the show which I thought was a good entry primer ... if Fareed had one or two of these shows snuggling up to the economic energy paradigm and I would be ready to talk him into a rather radical introduce to resource based economics for a main stream CNN discussion ... tht would be dope ... namste
and I'm banned from commenting? most of this is pure unadulterated drivel
Mr. Zakaria, saying we need to innovate more or most is like saying we should be happier or happiest. Invention is preceded by necessity, and that could affect people more by where they are on the planet. Now China, for example, there is great need there particularly because of the state in development in great parts of their country and economy, and continue to increase their population – so you can expect the need there to be greater. But their markets and access to them by outsiders, especially Americans, is by their laws, is as close to nil as can be. If we were to patent, in fact with our existing patents, they rip us off, and are protected by their government in doing so. We need to fight for our legal rights from global innovation rip off and access to their markets. You should enter the debate from there and it would be a more interesting productive debate.
My company, which I will not name here, is closing down the truely innovative and thought leadership positions in the US and outsourcing a company in India that hires resources from Indian universities for those positions - this trend will be very detrimental for the future of the U.S. It is one thing to offshore tech support jobs and a whole other story to offshore innovative jobs - which is the current trend. Very bad for the US economy long term. Short term it will save a few dollars for the company and it is very short sighted.
To all those who blame "unions", "high taxes" and the "big welfare state":
Check out the ranking Fareed referred to. Sweden ranks #2, right after autocratic Singapore. The USA led on research and innovation a couple of decades ago precisely because the government invested so much (and because, after WW II, the US were the only ones who had money to do that).
In my eyes, if Americans don't get their act together – and that means Republicans accepting raising tax rates (on both upper and middle class), Democrats accepting to raise the retirement age, etc. – the USA will just continue its amusing but irrelevant skirmishes over Planned Parenthood, "death panels" and socialism, they will continue giving huge media coverage to the likes of Donald Trump and Sarah Palin (who just exploit these uninformed or ill-informed debates) while the country slowly but steadily falls behind.
--> Too bad loser obama cut funding to nasa, and killed the shuttle program. obama is the problem
Put your money where your mouth is. If you want expanded space program, then pay your taxes. Oh, but people want great, glorious national image, they just don't want to pay for it. Sorry, but the shuttle program costs a LOT of money. And surely, conservatives want us to reign in government spending.
Anyway, the idea that Obama cut the shuttle program is naive and simplistic. The shuttle program was retired because it was way past its retirement age and because NASA drove itself into a corner for decades not working on its replacement, driven by politicially appointed NASA administrators. This problem developed over decades, passed down from administration to administration without anyone working on it. By the time of Bush the retirement of the shuttles was already announced. The NASA administration under him made some attempts to start a new human space vehicle program, but it was too little too late. It went way over budget and was way behind schedule. When Obama's administration inherited the mess that Bush left behind he was pretty much forced to cut this development program.
Even IF Obama hadn't cut the new program, because of its delays there still would have been several years of gap in American human space flight.
Give a man a fish dinner and you feed him for a day teach him to fish and you feed him for a life time. Innovation is not enough to raise our society to the level we once enjoyed. We need to produce the products we design and develop. Not only does this production provides jobs that innovation alone can not; it also makes it possible for more innovation based on the process. Innovation is the fish dinner and the fishing is the jobs produce by this innovation.
Innovation is done by intellectuals and academics. (and in very rare cases, a few bumblers who get lucky) People who think. Unfortunately this country is falling towards a culture of anti-intellectualism, corporate control, and dogma. Corporations like innovators... but only as long as that earns them profit. They like to control where research is going and will supress research that is inconvenient for them. Unfortunately through their political and media buddies this has filtered into our education system and every-day life. Intellectuals are resented, because surely the greed of a researcher getting a few million dollars in grant money (most of which goes into getting expensive equipment, as well as having to hire lots of lab technicians) must be curtailed as long as we have poor, multi-billion dollar corporations struggling with CEOs earning only 7-figure bonuses these days on top of their also 7-figure salaries.
Even at an early age our culture defines 'nerds' as somehow inferior to 'jocks.' You can try to throw money at the innovation gap all you want (whether through the government, or through corporations) but until we change our attitudes towards intellectuals, we will keep falling further behind.
Can you name a country that lauds its scientists more than its athletes? You can't. They are no different than the U.S. in this regard. Tell us then, how does that play into the U.S. falling behind in innovation?
Sure, many countries glorify their atheletes. But most of those countries are NOT outright hostile towards intellectuals. And in those countries school sports are very limited (if they even exist beyond gym class) and science education is emphasized. In America we have become outright HOSTILE towards intellectuals. And that drains the motivation of our own citizens to pursue careers in science and engineering.
Lots of stupid comments here. I think they don't like Fareed because of his name. Probably watch Fox noise too.
I don't like Zakaria because he's an arrogant, American-hating, self-hating, whinny, sky-is-falling, cry baby who would do well with a boilermaker.
actually if you have read any of Zakaria's books he talks about how much he loves and admires America.
Importance and need of innovation is just being limited to rhetoric and political speeches. In the recent years America seems to have been complacent and failed to proactively incentivize innovation. Perhaps, the end of Soviet Union led to lack of the dire necessity to keep pushing. America seems to have not realized over the last couple of decades that the World (read China and India) is catching up with science and technology, and will be rivaling its ability in these terms.
Policy level changes will be key to regain America's glory in the world. Foreign researchers need to be retained right here in America, as also the manufacturing. The dumbest thing (other than shipping jobs overseas) is to train talent here and let it go elsewhere..
There needs to be more scholarships for the STEM fields and also policies that foster start-ups regardless of resident status.
We will be an innovative country again when our education system quits teaching to the test and stops churning out obedient workers who only know how to follow rules, and begins to stress creativity, critical thinking, and an appreciation for American history. Sadly, we have been neglecting these last three topics for so long that I don't know if we can recover.
The problem is not that America is not innovating. The problem is America is letting Chinese steal the secrets and enjoy the fruits of these american innovations. Unless America can prevent its secrets and innovations from going to Chinese, there is no hope. American companies for short term benefits of having access to Chinese markets are giving away too much and selling the future of America.
Isn't it time someone blamed Israel? (or stuffed a sock in Zakaria's mouth?) One cannot have a Zakaria thread without someone blaming Israel.
I have more alternative energy that can change the world that dont need fossil fuel.i have emailed great leaders that i can think of and nobody want to do nothing. Yet everybody are talking about innovation but nobody wants to do nothing. Are we just talking and cry?
Everybody is talking about jobs and nobody investegates inventors. crybaby
A bunch of talkis dont no know how to make result ACTION IS LOUDER THAN WORDS! They forgot about this words?
How to innovate? Investegate those who claim they have alternative energy
If we would take all the money we have been spending on never-ending wars and use that to sponsor research and development in America, can you imagine what we could be accomplishing? Why is there not a Manhattan Project equivalent for green, renewable energy, in computer sciences and other sciences? In other forms of technology? In medicine? In education?
We are wasting lives, resources, money on being involved in war after war after war and in trying to "buy" our allies. We have given Pakistan $20 million in the past ten years, and what did they do? Help bin Laden. We are rebuilding one nation after another but are not rebuilding our own nation.
To which I must ask are we that stupid?
If so, we deserve our fate.
Yes. We are that stupid!
We have to start from PreK level and make Goddard school available to every child, take the system of successful schools like Colligiate in Richmond VA and apply to every public school. If we dont start fixing the problem from K level, we are not going to achieve much.
yes i think so 2 we should make a firm groind and work are way up.
innovation innovation.Does annybody looking for it?
Geez. Unless I misheard, Steven Johnson referred to the 1700's as "the 17th century." How can we have much confidence in the "research" of someone who can't keep his centuries straight?
Why did you not discuss the results of Israel as an innovative country? Read "Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle", by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, a Council on Foreign Relations Book. As an innovator, the citizens of Israel way outperform all the other countries you mentioned in the story.
We talk about how to educate America and how make high school students to graduate and go to college. I think it is a little too late to talk about education to a person who missed whole a lot last 8 years of school.
I'm confident the US will remain a world leader in innovation and economic progress. However I think as some mentioned on the show that the government will have to directly invest in the industries involved to generate the scientific and economic development.
One of the biggest issues in our lack to find jobs and also our lack in innovation is that we are lacking in 21st century skills set. Also education is a huge factor. There are actually a lot of jobs in America that need workers, but they require a skills set that many do not have...a 21st century high level skill set. Now, you have to have much stronger computer operating skills, a good understanding and usage know how of technology especially in communications, and also be open and understand the global market place. For instance, many of us do not know a different language outside of English, and that is not acceptable in this 21st century, which demands for us to be more globally engaged and understand cultures and languages outside of our own. Those who are comfortable communicating and interacting with businesses from other countries will be placed at the top of the list when a company hires them. Also, those with a strong computer skill set will also be preferred by companies. The start up companies and entrepreneurs who possess these skills and are creating innovative business processes and products will be way ahead of the game.
Thanks Fareed, it was a heart breaking story. The right wings are destroying this country, but I don't believe they are aware of that. We need to pray to God to give them 21st century brain.
Real Bill: "US manufacturing more than China"? You must be a troll....GPS: Reinventing America just showed the statistic that China is outmanufacturing the U.S.. Did you see "Reinventing America" just a few minutes ago", or did you just make a statement without seeing the statistic that they placed on the show that China is manufacturing more than us?
The best way to create jobs in america and create innovation is to encourage the private sector with some little help from the government in the form of low taxes and looser regulation to create new industry in the private space companies in america...Those companies can create new jobs with hiring engineers, technicians, to come up ides to mine the moon, astroids and mars....there is no more room for growth here on earth..so now we must seek new opportunities outside.....This may sound corny but what new jobs are there going to come from here in america????
Good Program and Correct timing!
Needed are the following steps to bring back the deserved rights and the rightful World Order in the topic discussed:
1, ESTABLISHMENT of a federal funded program for fast-pace assessment (free to public) of preliminary versions of the USPTO applications- "NO IDEA is BAD IDEA" Period. Where needed, provision of the resources to protect the findings, irrespective of the finding's rewards and the rankings if any!
2, Provision of subsidies and tax incentives to private sectors bringing in the inventions and the related portfolios.
3, Finally, renewed joint programs with BRICS nations, AT LEAST for energy, medical, and food technologies to enhance combined novel innovations, particular in this area- CANNOT be compromised using geographical and other characteristics, for distinction and competition. We have buried the 1957 era!
Is American engineering and science about innovation and making a leap to the next great solution? NO. Absolutely NOT. I am an engineer with an advanced degree. My career is built upon finding new and creative results. Sometimes this is taking old technology and revolutionizing it. Sometimes it requires a brand new solution. Ultimately, creative and innovative thinking happens in the human mind.
US academia and corporations have driven out the REAL creative process for pseudo methods. We confuse tools for fundamentals. To be an engineer these days means your most important skill is to perform computer aided design in a six sigma and lean environment. A drone. To voice opposition is akin to religious heresy. It is not important that you actually know and understand how to engineer a system or product from first principles. (Un)fortunately for me I can'r do CAD and don't give a hoot, nor even understand, anything meaningful about six sigma or lean (except than lean bacon has less fat).
You can't even begin to innovate without use of REAL science and engineering (i.e. where fundamental and knowledge and experimentation meet). There are scant few companies that follow this basis. We have become a "me too" culture. Leadership in our country means suppression of (innovative) thought, while grinding out as much stuff as the market will bear. $$$$. We have passed the critical point. At least a whole generation has been mislead by our mainstream – zero risk – culture. These are not skills that are just learned in a classroom or in some on-line seminar. The approach to innovation requires both innate individual qualities as well as years of learning in pro risk taking environment. As the "old saying" goes – you just don't pick it up off the ground. There is another old saying about a goose and a golden egg.
Can't argue with you. You are right! The Gov.does need to pay more attention to education just as other countries like China and India do!
Fareed the Wallstreet/Washington Pimp pedling their ideas again. So they can keep fooling the public for few more decades, while they can keep looting the middle class and this countries wealth. Here are some facts.
1. Bush Senior sold us Sadam Hussien issued.
2. Clinton sold us the Idea of Tech Jobs and go back to school.
3. Bush Jr is sold us war on Terrorism.
4. Now Obama and Wallstreet is selling Idea of Out Innovate other countries.
America is the country where the most Patents are filed and almost all invotations are done. But the Corporations buy it or they pay for the research here and then send it to Asian countires to be used for manufacturing.
Invoation is of no use to the general public as far as employment is concerened, if it is not used to produce a product here in this country. Even many Pharma reserarch funded 100% by tax money after the initial work all the low level is sent to India and supervised by scientists here. To name a few Abbot, Nestle etc.
You are absolutely right. Stupid USA!!! Our Gov. policies encourage this.Would you believe it? And now we are wondering why there are no jobs here!!!
actually, just getting them of drugs like ritalin etc...would go aloooooong way to bubbling out 'creativity'. These drugs basically 'numb' the life experience, the very life experience that IS the 'source' of innovation/creativity/outside the box thinking.
Extremes are good. They've given us the likes of Jackson Pollock and Eddie Van Halen, two individuals that suffer massive, depression/OCD....they would've been drugged into submission instead of 'releasing' it with their art.
Extremes are all right,except when it doesn't channel it into something good like talent. But hanging out doped up and drugged out.Sorry some young people need help today.
Reference this evening's GPS program: To say that solar panels are built in China because that government spent more on Innovation of that technology than the US government did is just plain ridiculous. China is building solar panels and Apple products for the same reason they build sneakers; the cost of labor.
Yes, we should encrouage our kids to study hard and to be educators, engineers and business people, but anyone who thinks that, in a global economy that includes people in other countries who will work for a small fraction of the wages Americans expect, factory floor jobs will ever come back to the US is in denial.
Unfortunately no amount of government subsidies or innovationwill solve this problem.
Is Fareed Zacaria the only editorial voice on here? And what credentials does he have to constantly be giving this country advice on, oh, practically everything?
what differnt does it make, if it out of reach for the common man
They hit the nail on the head when they pointed out how Apple employs 1,000,000 factory workers in China, and a mere 50,000 engineers in the US. While I agree that education and innovation are important, realistically, not everyone is going to go down that road, and we NEED MORE JOBS whether they're good, or crappy doesn't really matter, at this point we just need more. Forget about landing a great job, many Americans would take ANY JOB at this point.
I am a 55 year old engineer that went to school on the GI bill. I think one of the strengths of the US in the 50s-80s give or take a few years, was the mass number of WWI GIs that got a kick start from the GI Bill for (IMHO) college education, but to a lesser extent housing loans and other inderect benifits for GIs. A fromal eduaction has gotten pretty expensive in the 2010s as I currently have to kids in university, and I am really pushing them to get an eduaction at any expense cause I see the benefit, not only in increased wages but in just being educated. So this is the biggest area that need to be addressed. EDUCATE THE MASSES IF THEY ARE CAPABLE OF BEING EDUACTED!
I think it's the greed of the Business Class in this country that is perpetuating our intellectual demise. Executives and Wal-Street drones are far more concerned with how to put more money in their pockets right now than about how to provide a prosperous future for their children through investing in innovation. They'd rather spend their energy on cooking up schemes that make a quick buck, like that Credit Default Swap fiasco. Creating wealth out of thin air seems to have become the desired means of income. Unfortunately, a house of cards provides no lasting foundation for continued prosperity. Furthermore, the polarizing effect of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer is drawing us further away from devolping talent in our young people by limiting education and opportunity. It is a shameful cycle.
JRap, you think wrong. It already shameful that you live in a democratic society yet you want the rich to pay more in tax. Where is equality?
What is perpetuating your intellectual demise is the obsession with celebrities, reality shows, and chatting on social networking sites instead of using the time for learning. Getting a degree doesn't equal to innovation. Innovation is a passion and sometimes that passion doesn't make one money. But it does make one happy.
Mark, I didn't say anything about the rich paying more in taxes, that came from your head, not mine. I was actually suggesting the rich invest more of their hard(ly) earned money into ventures which serve a purpose greater than inflating their own bank accounts. Unfortunately, most of them choose not to do so of their own volition and instead rely on the laws of this great democracy to protect them from having to do ANYTHING productive.
Fareed,
I read some of the comments.Some are really stupid which shows the intelligence of our people and then again there are people who really care and want to improve the US. Your show tonight on "Innovations" hit a cord with me.You are absolutely right that we are loosing the innovation tech to China.They come here for education and then go back.Their Gov. is helping in the new tech.We are not. Period NOT! This in the long run will lead to more stagnation.The youth of today,some of them are more interested in $100 sneakers and designer clothes! All made in China!!!!! The first fundamental thing to do would be to have a uniform,where there are no distractions,just like other European countries and also China! Think about it,it is a main distraction in school,worrying about the what the person next to you is wearing!
So once that is solved then students start learning.This is a big change,but it needs to be done.The clothes are made in China anyway! Next the Gov. has to get involved and help these students achieve,by funding certain projects.All this does not take a rocket scientist,but sheer common sense. You need more Gov.funding in college and incentives.The Republicans if they have their way will scrap all funding and it will be the end of this nation.Think about it.I see young people hanging outside my restaurant,and I give them food.Some I talk to and lecture,but they are too far gone to hear me.These are young kids running away from home.Obviously no help from anyone.Is this our future.So to all of the the people that made comments,you should be encouraged that there is a man there trying to understand and solve problems.Keep ignoring it and you will see the consequences.I don't know Fareed,but I do agree with what he is trying to enlighten and help.Wake up America and listen.
The short sighted nature of articles like this boggles the mind. America's innovation is based on weapons systems and what the public sector is able to make from them once they are given access to the technology. This is how it has always been. What politicians mean when they talk about innovation is actually just economics. That is where we are behind. Our ability to dream up and build things no one has ever built before remains unsurpassed by any nation. Where we fail is in the way we regulate our innovations. We have far more testing and safety requirements for our products than any other nation. That's the only reason we are behind.
If I announced that I knew how to build a spaceship that could fly to the next star system, China would say build it now. America would want to test it for 200 years to make sure it's safe. It works that way with every product on the market. That is why we are behind. It has nothing to do with government funding. In fact, the more government funding is involved, the worse this gets.
You want America to lead the world in innovation, get the government and its regulations out of the picture. The private sector can handle it.
yoda
innovation, alternative idea's, creative problem solving ... free thought ??? in this thread ... reeeaaaalllllyyy !
most of these posts don't even recognize "the box" let alone think outside of it ... and the junk they have surrounding them in "the box" is hate, suspicion, denial and vested interest in preserving the status quo at all cost because everything "outside" isn't understandable and foreign.
As a result of our steady devolution, our intellectual feeding of the immense complexity's of the world around us has been reduced to indistinguishable gruel, 10 second sound bites, 160 character tweets or kindly corporate infomercial's or newscast delivered into our homes by our wonderful friends of Citizens United. And our free market will offer us reassurance and solace that everyone's life will be better, safer and easier.
We were led by a chainsaw wheeling cowboy with a foot on a log on a ranch, a guy that you want to have a beer with, because he know about you and is workin for you. We elected individuals that pitch one thing then aligned themselves with those that provided a bought and secured future (hint: it's not there constituents) ... the lesson; "how to cook a frog" the grade; D
the world is big and we are only 4% of the population
the number of china's top 5% students exceed ALL the students in the US school system
the breakdown
India is not far behind sharing 20% of the worlds population. doesn't concern you ... ?
670,000 foreign students attend our universities, up 20% year to year for 3 years now , 60 % are form China ... this is 5% of our students, climbing 1% per year ... how long before students become teachers and what about our university franchise's THERE ? a little concern?
we rank at the bottom of the innovation index as stated, and among 40 developed countries 15 year olds, the US ranks 25th of 40 in math, 12th of 40 in reading and 20th in science ... doesn't it concern you ... yet ?
... if these are the facts, and they are, how does this thread come close to dealing with the facts this is article is promoting? do they enable or broaden the conversation about the problems ? do they generates ideas about a solution ? ... which is EXACTLY the point of the article ... and the problem in this country ... the lack of critical thinking and social intelligence ... that would be our lack of education coupled and ethics ... and what then is this thread ? or comments like "1st step would be to kick the asses of America-haters like Mr.Z " ... it's lines in the sand, planted flags and just more junk in the box ... word out ... and I wonderd how many will actually tune in toi understabd the content ofthe resaeach befor casting it adrift in burng boats
Always in motion is the future.
Do or do not... there is no try.
May the Force be with you.
yoda
June 5, 2011 at 3:50 pm | Reply
Dave
Finally... Someone with a brain and know how to use it.
June 5, 2011 at 4:02 pm | Reply
Blaise said "Japan long ago surpassed us? Their economy is in the toilet. Name one great innovation from the Japanese."
You, sir, are an ignoramus.
Have you ever watched a VHS cassette tape? Thank JVC. How about a Blu-ray movie? Thank Sony. Or read a CD or DVD? You should thank Drs Nakamura and Akasaki for pioneering work in blue p-type GaN LEDs and lasers. Did you enjoy the movie Transformers or ever watched Power Rangers or Speed Racer as a kid? Are you familiar with anime? Did you play video games at an arcade as a kid? How about Playstation or WII? Or Hello Kitty? Tokyo has more Michelin Stars than Paris! The Japanese culture has arguably had more fusion, more influence, and worked itself into our venacular more than any other culture in the past 40 years. Now, name a new dance, brew, craze, song, literature, gadget, sport, fashion, drug, architectural design, breakthrough research, or exploration from the Chinese? I can't.
Theo, right on! They forgot the the small, flexible screen on their mobile device is being pioneer by the japanese who than manufactured them so that our tech companies can use it on their mobile devices.
My god... if it weren't for the Japanese video games almost certainly would not exist in America today! America certainly proved it positively sucked at making quality games then. But that debacle of 1983 only proves what we all know today, that American entrepeneurs care more about their bottom line than quality or delivering for the consumers.
I have an idea but i dont know where to turn or who to contact to try and get it off the ground
I don't think the innovation that Fareed is looking for is going to happen anytime soon because America's political climate (not just rhetoric but the climate) has become paralyzed by a myopic populace and spineless politicians who seem to have lost the ability to withstand short term pain for long term gain. The truth of the matter is that the level of corruption in America has reached a point where Congressmen who are elected do not even remotely, or at least make an attempt to, represent their constituents, let alone the American people. Everybody from unions to voters to executives to businessmen have lost sight of the bigger picture. Three things need to happen in order to reinvigorate America's politics:
1. We need to find a way to cut off the " 'loony' cancer" that is spreading throughout the Republican party.
When a Senator such as Richard Lugar is pushed to oppose his own immigration bill he helped to create and to say ridiculous things like supporting a "Fair Tax", you know that it is the Republican base that has gotten out of touch with the American people, not their moderate representatives who have lost touch with them. Let's be honest, a lot of the ideas that President Obama has proposed were originally conservative ideas. So what is there to be so frantic about? There is only one reason and that is, as Mitch McConnell put it, "for President Obama to be a one-term President". Does this sound like a party that is productive or making any meaningful contribution to better the country? Of course not! Are there any innovative ideas coming from the Republican camp? No way! Did you know that not a single "jobs" bill has been introduced by the Republicans since they won the House in November? Frankly, if the Republican party were to dissolve right now as it is (in a manner similar to the American Whig party of the 19th century), I doubt anything would seriously change and America would be all the better for it. This cancer is spreading like wlidfire and moving the entire political spectrum to the right.
2. There needs to be more pressure on the President and the Democrats from the left.
Polls show time after time again that the American people are clearly becoming more progressive. So why is Nancy Pelosi STILL talking about deficit-cutting on Face the Nation when she could have easily hammered the Republicans for their refusal to raise taxes on the rich? Why don't we hear anything about the People's Budget in the national discussion? Why does the President feel like he can be Mr. Nice Guy in his meeting with the Republicans but turn his nose up at the meeting with his own party? This is simple; it's because Republicans fear their base while Democrats despise theirs (as the saying goes). Instituting a carbon tax, ending the Bush tax cuts, developing alternative sources of power, cutting military spending, ending oil subsidies, bringing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to a close...all of these ideas are coming from the left but are currently being muffled or cut out of the debate entirely because there is no sense of urgency to fulfill these. It is true that the Republican party is dragging itself over a cliff, which has the unfortunate side effect of moving the political spectrum with it. However, as long as there is no pressure or sense of urgency to pass worthwhile initiatives, almost all of which are certainly coming from the left, our political system is going to be stuck right where the Republicans leave it (after they jump over the cliff) until they come back for more.
3. There MUST be a decoupling of the influence of money from political elections.
Innovation involves the generation of new ideas as well as new uses for existing technology. As long as corporations have the ability to spend an unlimited amount of money to influence campaigns, as long as the system is souping around with as much money as it currently is, as long as campaign donors are not required to disclose their identities when providing contributions to campaigns, the only initiatives that will occur, on behalf of both the private and public sectors, will be the preservation of existing, well-established, well-financed interest groups. At this rate, America more resembles a country like Pakistan or some third-world country where the nation's wealth is grossly unequal and concentrated at the top. Are those 400 richest people the only Americans who are capable of generating ideas? Have their historically low taxes helped them out innovate China or South Korea? Well, according this special so far it hasn't. So wouldn't it make more sense provide the rest of the population with the capital they need to generate new ideas?
** I dont think the republicans want to innovate because if they did, they would raise taxes and cut military spending so the government could use the extra money for research and funds to higher education.
I just watched the GPS special on innovation in America. I'm still surprised by the number of experts who believe innovation is a function of numbers: the more scientists and engineers a country produces or a company employs, the more innovative it will be. If that were the case GM and Chrysler would be among the most innovative companies in the world. But I doubt many people would put these two companies on their list of the most 100 innovative companies in the US (let alone the world).
Now lets look at two US companies that also employ many engineers, but are unquestionably hyper-innovative, and are leaders in their fields: Apple and Pixar. (Yes, I know Pixar is now owned by Disney, but it doesn't seem to have hurt the animation studio's creativity.) What makes Apple and Pixar different from GM and Chrysler? Have you ever looked at the list of credits at the end of a Pixar movie? It looks like roll call at the United Nations. Similarly, if you have ever visited the Apple campus in Cupertino it looks like a meeting of the UN general assembly (only with younger delegates). Contrast this with GM and Chrysler. There the majority of the engineers and executives are white American males. Not that there is anything wrong with white American males. GM and Chrysler would be just as innovatively-challenged if all their engineers were Han Chinese or Finnish ex-pats or 3rd generation Japanese Americans.
The key to innovation is DIVERSITY. This was barely touched on in the GPS special. Diversity is something the US has in spades (at least for the time being) – no other country comes close. Unfortunately, we have this bizarre immigration policy where we take the cream of the cream from around the world, educate them here, then forced to go back home. This is ludicrous and it's economic suicide.
I don't believe the US will lose its innovative edge for quite sometime. At least not until China starts educating Peruvians, Iranians and Italians. But we shouldn't hamstring ourselves with policies that diminish our main strength – our diversity.
Nathan S, don't jump on the "DIVERSITY" bandwagon too soon just because you want to feel good holding hands. The credits you see at the end of Pixar shows are just the workers there. They aren't the innovator. How does Pixar movies benefit our children's mind? They do not and are just another show that glue our children to the tube even more. Do other country need our Pixar to do any animation? Nope.
Diversity isn't the key. The key to innovation is to throw tons of money at an idea. The reason why microsoft is playing catch up to apple's ipod is that they got lazy and refuse to spend loads of cash for competing with apple. Instead they just give it a portion of funding. If it fail, they just cut it off. I am surprised the other tech companies haven't figured it out yet, that the reason they are behind apple is that the refuse to use the cash for any big projects such as develop their own operating system instead of relying on google's android or microsoft os. Because of this they have to wait for updates before making the hardware.
But I have a feeling china is probably secretly hiring programmers for this.
I want to speak to the last point that was made on the show. This idea that education is the answer. So we would all have jobs if we were just more educated? That is simply wrong. I would draw your attention to the numbers of people who are graduating from colleges (with huge debts) who are not able to find work. It doesn't take a MBA to see that the problem is a simple supply and demand issue. Too many people who need jobs and not enough jobs. Do you think Fox com is making iPods because they have more engineers in Taiwan? If we were to double the number of qualified Electrical engineers in this country we would not produce those iPods here. You could increase the numbers of Electrical engineers by a factor of 100 all you would have is more unemployed engineers. What about the jobs lost to automation and technological advance? Please! Please! Please! stop pushing this insanity. We have BAs and MBAs working in call centers and fast food! Have pity on the poor children, wasting 4-6 years of there time and digging themselves a deeper financial hole at University around the country.
We already have a huge oversupply of qualified people. There is only one solution. Change the supply to demand ratio in a more balanced direction. Don't increasing the supply of over qualified people in an already over saturated market, You need to go in the other direction. "How do we do that? " you might ask. At the risk of diluting my very simple message of "there is no lack of education in this country" I will shoot a few, simple, off the cuff ideas at you.
Shorten the work week. If you could only work people 30 hours a week without paying overtime, you would see more employed people. Employers would have to compete for people to cover there current work load. In the short term it would be hard but in the long run it would fix a lot of issues.
Take some of that money we put into education and put it into small business development. It just does not make sense to spend tens of thousands of dollars a year for 4 to 6 years to create another job seeker. Insane. Are we insane? We must be insane. Why not give some of those same people the chance to take that same money and start a business with it? Retool that current 4-6 year education system to a simple streamlined business basics education system with six week courses like "Is your small business idea feasible ?" or "Basic accounting for small business" and offer them in a continuing education format. At the very least those people in the system would have jobs for a couple of years and those people can't run a business without employes. More jobs created right there.
Okay so these may not be perfect. That is fine. I am not trying to give a definitive list here. I am just throwing out some other options to the idea that we need more better education to get out of our current predicament. That idea is not only wrong, it actually works counter to fixing the issue.
The earth is not flat, Snake oil does not cure cancer or anything else, and education will not fix our economic issues.
Fuzz
I am surprised a show that talk about how to innovate doesn't understand the cause of innovation and spit out utter nonsense such as diversity and education. Well, it's a good cause, but it's over his head.
Yep, it's that simple. Take a small idea and throw engineers and ton of cash at it. The next show is gonna be a riot. They're gonna talk about improving education for innovation. Oh yeah, the doctors, nurses, business major, lawyers, etc... sure doesn't make innovation. Heck, a doctor toss math straight out the window right after passing the mcat exam.
Just get rid of the government and give everyone guns so we can go shoot each other, that is the only American Innovation in our mindset these days.
That sounds very enticing, but what if I wanted a gun that out-guns your gun, and ultimately keeps me alive? Anyone can stand to that "American innovation" as you call it, but some of us prefer the bigger stick.
Don't be a tight ass and give us bullets too.
Take a look at http://www.bestearly.com for an educational approach that should be part of America's innovation strategy ..... universal adoption of early research participation. Give us your feedback.
As an innovator and inventor, I have witnessed first hand the power of big corporations to buy and shelve any technology that threatens to displace outdated, high maintenance, "cash cow" technology. This and the practice of outsourcing are the two factors that contribute the most to killing both innovation and jobs. There is no shortage of innovation, and robots can outproduce Chinese laborers. The desire to make money as quickly as possible is, ironically, the force that creates the obstacles that prevents innovation from creating jobs.
Innovation, or changes that drive fundamental shifts in how things are accomplished and to what ends, consists in part of having the right ideas and being able to make them real at the right time.
The private sector motivation is monetary gain, and more monetary gain is found in stable and well integrated ways of doing things than in dreams of buried treasure and fabulous wealth The people seeking innovative solutions to seemingly intractable solutions are very much like treasure hunters, people who want to achieve decisive solutions in one great find.
So when we look at the great intercontinental railrays that became the backbone of linking the continent by rail, investors could not be found until Congress guaranteed their investments. But that kind of government involvement in our great industrial growth was not uncommon. While the vast wealth and development did progress from the private sector, the order and predictability that the private sector must have to prosper were provided by government.
When an innovation will cost capital and profits for established industries which would place them at a competitive disadvantage, the private sector will oppose such innovations, tooth and nail. But provide a level playing field where all competitors much implement the innovation, they will suddenly become avid supporters.
Separate government from the process and leave it up to the private sector, and nothing will happen very quickly.
Like I said, the key to innovation is cash. What the government can give is incentives. And everything boils down to the all mighty dollar. Government might not have the technology, labor, or whatever to make a dream become reality. What some people in here and as well as the show want us all to believe it's education and diversity. Guess Fareed wasted months trying to find the wrong answer that took me a minute to see the truth. They are tossing us down the wrong road. Just because a show is titled, "How to Innovate" doesn't mean they know the answer.
Very simple people, if you want your front lawn mowed (innovation). Pay(incentive) someone to do it. What you gonna do? Educate that person? Heck, no!
In the 50s and 60s the U.S. as the only large power still standing after WW2 made use of many European patents as well as scientists and engineers (remember Werner von Braun). The U.S. had the money and the economic know-how to exploit many innovations thought up by others (as well as its own). Then for decades, the U.S. has used its financial power to buy up ideas and innovative companies from other countries and make them its own. Now the shoe is on the other foot and ideas invented in the U.S. are being developed in other countries because they have the money to do so and the economic know-how. It hurts, but it is the reality. Welcome to the rest of the world – the free ride is over.
USA government with pharma cartels have destroyed a whole generation of American children with toxic vaccines and drugs. Therefore US has zero chance for recovery, as more than 54 % of US children are now chronically sick or brain injured. This is a national self-destruction for profits of pharma cartls. .
I would live to see the "Restoring the American Dream" show. I missed the June 5th airing. How can I see it? Will it be replayed? Can I see it on my iPad or PC? Please help!
I recently saw this discussion in one of the other groups and thought it would be useful AND fun to give it a whirl in our community! Also, it's a great way for you to introduce yourself to our community.
http://www.meratvforum.org
Innovations are created by innovators, which is an aptitude just like a mathematician or a carpenter and does not require a PhD not to say that PhDs are not creative. The September 30, 1985 issue of International BusinessWeek includes an article about creative individuals. If you cannot find a copy I have one and saved it as it made me realize my aptitude. It also explains the not so complimentary aspects of being creative, which has assisted me in being aware of such aspect. A creative aptitude is synonymous with having an intellect meaning the ability of creating original thoughts. I will use the term innovator in the rest of this message.
I understand that your next program will deal with education and I would like to suggest that all levels of our education system should recognize that it needs to include the science of innovation and commercialization of the same. I.e. the carpenter needs to be given the opportunity to commercialize an innovation. The BusinessWeek article claims that creativity can be taught but I represent that it requires the student to have an innovator aptitude.
Innovators are often misunderstood and are not properly awarded in the job market as they have to convince their colleagues of innovative solutions and they do not have the capability to understand “wild ideas” as they are not innovators.
Some industries are very conservative and often discourage innovations. Some entities have a policy of not using innovations because they have not been used before. This limits progress through a too few progressive entities.
As a summary my suggestions are:
-Recognize that innovator is a distinct aptitude equal to others
-Provide innovation curriculums at all levels of the educational system
-Provide mentoring support to innovators as they are lesser entrepreneurs
-Provide unconditional seed funds for the development and commercializing of innovations
-Educate industry leaders as a continuation of the mentioned BusinessWeek article including understanding the not so complimentary aspects of an innovator, which may have to be considered a price to pay
-Encourage employers to reward innovative thinking in parallel to other employee evaluation criteria
We Killin It – Barton Block
Is innovation the key to America rebuilding both its economic leadership in the world as well as its superiority as a global brand capable of creating the worlds most admired products, services and advanced technologies? This is the question of the day – the fact remains clear that a tremendous amount of the best jobs in the world are no longer found in the U.S. We have unfortunately seen these jobs disappear due to the MBAization of America. Our reliance on bogus financial modeling and earnings projections have allowed the brightest CEOs from large multi-nationals to VC backed start-ups to error on the side of outsourcing across all verticals and throughout all industries. This has had a devastating impact on the ASPIRATION for INNOVATION. True innovation in the U.S. must supersede the I-Phone 5, Solar Panels, Facebook Friends, the Ford Taurus, Google Keywords and many of the highly touted faces of innovation that our brought to us by the media. While each of the fore mentioned are highly respectable products and services – none mark the requirements of true innovation as required to take America to a higher level. The country is in need of aspirational innovation, which will motivate new generations to embrace the fileds of engineering, math and sciences. Think for a moment how John F. Kennedy inspired a nation in his quest to send men to the moon. His inspiration led to the ultimate Aspiration for Innovation, which spanned several generations and took America to its pinnacle as the developer and producer of the worlds greatest products.
That is very low....
Naughty. Bad.
Fine.....if I did it. It was an 'ism'. You cannot change fate. You erased it, so perhaps it was not so...
But then again, it is all up to you. Love, and good bye.
Everything is as it should be.
We speak to you many ways....for in a song, lies your soul.
The USA needs to go back to the days when we 'drained brains' from elsewhere and reinvigorate science. The influence of so called christians in this country to be anti-science is going to be the ruin of this country.
What is all this concern for “innovation” about? CNN, and most pundits, say we must be more innovative. But humans are naturally innovative. Americans today are certainly not less innovative than Americans of the past. It is OPPORTUNITY that drives innovation; and it is opportunity that has declined in America. America became the greatest nation in the world because it provided, and was known to provide, exceptional opportunity. Have we used it all up? The opportunities in America that drove our growth are well known even by school children: land, water, trees, minerals, etc., and freedom to pursue one’s dreams. What are the opportunities that today drive China, et al, that we don't have; or are not perceived to have by ourselves as well as the rest of the world? What opportunities might we have that could be unique to America? How do we measure opportunity? These are the proper questions to ask!
Innovation is great! But not when it benefits the competition more than the innovator. I believe we are asking the wrong questions. Instead of how can we innovate more? How can we make our innovation benefit us? Example: Apple, what would it take to bring the manufacturing of the I-Phone or I-Pad, I-whatever HERE? Home. How do we do it? We have about the right amount of innovation but now we need the jobs to implement what we have innovated..
Energy is the problem. There is not enough energy (oil, coal, nuclear sustainable solar) in the world to sustain the human population in a manner commensurate with basic human dignity.
I have sent this potential innovation to every one I can think of.
It may be viewed as in the context of Albert Einstein’s letter to President Franklin Roosevelt (but only peaceful intentions).
And it is a continuation of that effort (Manhatan Project and succeeding efforts) recently expressed in the National Ignition Facility, Livermore, California.
As a civilian engineering professional
with many years studying the nexus
between cosmological and earthly engineering/scientific principles,
I join with the United States Tax Paying public
in congratulating the diverse people
associated with the continued Department of Energy, National Ignition Facility (NIF)
https://lasers.llnl.gov/
in engineering a successful platform for classified nuclear stockpile verification
but more importantly,
in engineering a complementary non classified fundamental research vehicle
for potentially obtaining new required energy
to drive the world's economy
in a manner worthy of humans' best aspirations.
A new energy source is necessary
as evidenced by any judicious evaluation
of current and anticipated world energy per capita usage.
As the late Nobel Prize recipient, Dr. Richard Smalley, Rice University said:
'We need 10 technological miracles to obtain the required energy'.
NIF may provide a few of these miracles
(Maybe the current preliminary NIF experiments already
hint at one of these required technological miracles)
Because of its unique design,
The National Ignition Facility(NIF) is the only ongoing world class experiment
capable of developing something fundamentally scientifically new.
I do not mean NIF's use as impinging
its spatially oriented 192 laser beams on to a hydrogen mass target.
I mean spatially oriented laser interaction(no hydrogen mass target)
for Schwinger Pair Production
as conceptually described by Julian Schwinger before the time of lasers
(Julian Schwinger, On Gauge Invariance and Vacuum Polarization, Phys. Rev. 82, 664–679 (1951))
and the study of such pair production from vacuum
as a potential energy source.
Engineered Schwinger Pair Production
means integrating a widely diverse technology base
from astrophysics (Big Bang nucleosynthesis)
to earth based laser engineering as per NIF.
I do think the Schwinger Pair Production mechanistic answer
to energy production
is staring us in the face
from the whispering vastness of astrophysical space
with data compiled by latest satellites (WAMP, PLANCK)
waiting to be engineered at earth scale
at a facility such as NIF and its successors.
Within this scientific context, I have one continuing question?:
In the operation of the newly commissioned National Ignition Facility,
has any gamma-ray radiation been detected
at the intersection of spatially oriented laser beams
without intervening target hydrogen mass
indicating a Schwinger pair production
and particularly at an energy of 56 MeV?
It is recognized that the NIF reactor is not optimally setup
for Schwinger pair production but
selected laser beams from the 192 angled available NIF lasers
hold out the hope
of providing the correct symmetry
to create an observed energy at 56 MeV
(from vacuum and no target mass).
This 56 MeV creation would be a direct indication for Schwinger pair existence
and provide the basis for further Schwinger pair production optimization (in vacuo)
and at a much lower energy than predicted at the
Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) facility
http://www.extreme-light-infrastructure.eu/
with its extremely high but linear laser intensity of order 1×10^26 watt/cm^2.
The angled impinging lasers are a unique feature to NIF.
Optimal Schwinger Pair Production is anticipated
in a standing wave intersecting laser geometry
as per Figure 4.3, 4.4,
http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9905007
a geometry that would modify the vacuum permeability, permittivity
and implement Schwinger pair production in a Critical Optical Volume Energy(COVE)
at much lower incident energies than previously predicted (ELI)
and potentially be a source of energy exceeding the laser input energy.
WHY NOT LOOK? My extremely limited and diverse credentials
in the necessarily unclassified public domain
may be an asset to this civilian energy quest.
At your service & All the best,
Richard
Richard De Los Saam Licensed Professional Engineer, TX & CA
| LCDR – Ret USNR – NFO TACCO P3 ORION
| Patrol Plane Celestial Navigator (2541.5 Hrs)
| (in the spirit of Nathaniel Bowditch)
| BS chemistry – Loras College 1968
| MS Engineering – Stanford University 1974
| Government Service (GS) NAVFAC CEL 1975 – 1980
| Independent Scientific Study and
| Professional Engineering 1980-Present
| Home: 525 Louisiana Ave
| Corpus Christi, TX 78404
| 361 944 1670
| rdsaam@att.net
ref#1:
Superconductivity, The Structure Scale of the Universe (Fourteenth Edition)
(Elastic Resonant Symmetric Medium by Self-Energy)
(Coherent Rabi Oscillations)
(Schwinger Pair Production of Virtual Particles)
http://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9905007
Richard D. Saam, Corpus Christi, Texas
The biggest problem is the military tries to weaponize every new invention they can thus taking it out of the public sector.
What happened to to water fueled car that was tested and driven by the inventor on a long road trip? Not long after the inventor showed it to the military he suddenly died and all of his work disappeared into the black hole we call the pentagon. WHY??
I believe the oil industry saw this and killed him off and destroyed his work to keep us burning oil as our fuel. That is just one case. I know of hundreds of inventors who are afraid to even try to patent their work because of this.
Most are afraid of the patent process and the paperwork nightmare that corporations have made it to maintain their control of the invention process. The military industrial complex and corporate America controls the patent office.
Until the patent application process is made easier and FREE for all Americans, China will beat us out every time.
America ceased being great when the corporations took over.
National high speed rail infrastructure will result in the creation of 1MM jobs; construction, architectural, manufacturing, service industry... Using China as a model one can fairly accurately predict the number of jobs that will be greated in all 50 states
Cost Savings: Legislative Branch
1. reset salaries of congressmen an senators to be equal to that of the average salary in the state that they represent
2. replace the federal governments health care insurance program for each of congressmen and senators with their respective state's healthcare insurance that they represent, including individual policies
3. reset the pension plans which the congressmen and senators receive to be no greater than the average pension plan in the states which they represent and to be no greater than 50% of their highest salary after 20 years of service
Cost Savings:
1. N.I.H.: restructure N.I.H. into a single entity from the 21 fiefdoms currently in place; i.e. implement Dr. Berndaine Healy's strategic cross cutting plan for N.I.H.
2. N.S.F.: reduce budget by 20%; this will help eliminate the old boys club
3. FDA: restructure FDA into two independent agencies, integrating the USDA into the food agency
4. DARPA: restructure DARPA into an independent agency reporting directly to the White House's office of OSTP
5. Restructure EPA into functional independent groups
Job Creation: On average it takes industry 2.5 years to obtain a new order from a customer therefore industrial job expansion on average will take 3 to five years. New products take on average 12 to 20 years before they are commercialized; "post its" 17 years, microwave ovens 20 years.
WAKE UP JOB CREATION IS NOT PLUG AND PLAY. IT WILL TAKE AT LEAST 5 YEARS TO RECOVER FROM THE END OF THE RECESSION
On average it takes industry 2.5 years to obtain a new order from a customer therefore industrial job expansion on average will take 3 to five years. New products take on average 12 to 20 years before they are commercialized; "post its" 17 years, microwave ovens 20 years.
WAKE UP JOB CREATION IS NOT PLUG AND PLAY. IT WILL TAKE AT LEAST 5 YEARS TO RECOVER FROM THE END OF THE RECESSION
I will immediately grab your rss feed as I can not to find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you've any? Kindly let me know so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Wow, fantastic blog layout! The time have you been blogging for? you've made blogging look easy. The general look of your respective website is great, together with the content!
I have a tendancy to be lazy sith commenting, but i adore your blog and i may well too say it correct now.
An exceptional read, thank you. It is obtaining harder and harder to sift via all the garbage on the web these days.
These days there is too much garabage written on blogs, glad to see your blog has kept it is integrety. Thanks
An superb read, thank you. It really is getting harder and harder to sift via all of the garbage on the internet these days.
I have a tendancy to be lazy sith commenting, but i adore your blog and i may as well say it proper now.
I normally hate commenting, but i thought i would give it a go for this blog. Been reading your stuff for awhile.
I'm really impressed together with your writing talents as neatly as with the format to your blog. Is that this a paid subject matter or did you modify it your self? Either way stay up the nice quality writing, it's rare to peer a nice blog like this one nowadays..
I just couldn't leave your website prior to suggesting that I really loved the standard information a person supply to your guests? Is going to be again continuously to investigate cross-check new posts
Its like you learn my thoughts! You appear to know so much approximately this, like you wrote the e-book in it or something. I think that you just could do with some percent to force the message house a little bit, however instead of that, this is magnificent blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.