The Real Technology Challenge

The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

Abstract

The ability of the U.S. to grow its economy and maintain its global economic strength depends on its ability to develop the “new breed” of technical and non-technical workers who can work across national, organizational, and cultural boundaries.  The US economy is not threatened by the increase in the numbers of scientists and engineers in China and India, nor is there a lack of qualified science and engineering graduates in the U.S.  The best competitiveness policy for the United States would not  focus on efforts to monopolize the world’s science and technology human resources. Rather it would focus on strengthening basic education, on the performance of those at the bottom, on providing a broad-based education, and on developing a cohort of cosmopolitan scientists and engineers who will give the U.S. “collaborative advantage” in today’s emerging global technology value chains.

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The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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