Hard to stop reading about the UK, and how very enlightenedly its services and economy have been run (and both of them expanded) in the past few years, and the sheer energy in its election process. Blair rightly took a hit for the Bush lovefest, but you can't deny that the country is largely pulling as one there.
Oh well. Back to us.
In development (read: just about every country other than the US, which in my view is DE-developing) a lot of what gets pushed is VERTICAL support and integration: government and the middle layers and the grassroots layers all pulling as one. And a lot of what gets pushed is HORIZONTAL integration: industries essentially pulling together to help one another all win together. (Two atypical examples which illustrate the strength of this concept: the keiretsu of japan and the chaebol of South Korea.)
Here in the US, in contrast, we have several predatory industries that appear to be almost malignantly taking down other industries - and no-one even seems to be talking about it very much, let alone acting to preserve and shore up our fast-sinking national value equation.
No prizes for guessing that pharmaceuticals and healthcare and big energy are at the top of any list of predators. And airlines and the auto industrry are at the top of any list of (many) industry victims whose value equations are being cut to ribbons.
I make my case today simply by referring you to Californian industry for the Enron-inspired energy hit. And to two articles in today's NY Times for the healthcare hit.
This by Paul Krugman on the truly gigantic hit to the economy by pharmaceuticals by way of the 2003 Medicare Act.
And this by Danny Hakim on the auto industry credit rating now being downgraded to junk bond status. True, autos hurt in part because of poor model choice. But also in part through the huge cost of healthcare - and of company pensions to supplement our worst-in-the-developed-world national pension scheme. To quote: "[A]ccording to some financial experts.....the companies' pension funds pose a greater risk of failure at some point than generally acknowledged."
And US companies in general have a huge education and training bill because society cannot bother to set workers up right. Or spend enough in many areas; in other words get the education value equation right.
Workers cost COMPANIES here because SOCIETY will not calculate right or invest right. Or stop those predators. Nice work pharmaceuticals. Nice work healthcare. Nice work big energy. But not your fault alone.
*
Main Poster at LiberalStreetFighter