March 01, 2007
Innovatin' with Bill Gates
MSFT Chairman Bill Gates wrote a great op/ed piece for the WaPo on what we as Americans need to do to foster innovation which is the motor that drives the economy.
Innovation is the source of U.S. economic leadership and the foundation for our competitiveness in the global economy. Government investment in research, strong intellectual property laws and efficient capital markets are among the reasons that America has for decades been best at transforming new ideas into successful businesses.The most important factor is our workforce. Scientists and engineers trained in U.S. universities -- the world's best -- have pioneered key technologies such as the microprocessor, creating industries and generating millions of high-paying jobs.
But our status as the world's center for new ideas cannot be taken for granted. Other governments are waking up to the vital role innovation plays in competitiveness.
He goes on to advocate for two things:
1) Better Education
2) More H1B visas to bring in cheap, well trained labor
See how I did that? Gates makes the case for better education and I personally think this is incredibly important. Of course, not knowing much about it other than that there is a great high school making math nerds in San Diego, CA, he doesn't address the real problem which is a chronic lack of funding in education. Corporations pay the least in taxes of any group in the United States, save those in poverty who don't pay anything. If you're going to reduce taxes on dividends, then taxes on corporate income have to go up dramatically and that money should be used for infrastructure. I'll go Gates one better... we need massive improvements not just to education but also to transportation and health care. We take care of these things and we'll set up this country for the kind of economic boom not seen since that which occurred post World War 2.
On the issue of visas, I'm less than enthusiastic.
Posted by mcblogger at March 1, 2007 04:39 PM
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