May, 2007

Our friends at the Council on Competitiveness have just released their Competitiveness Index: Where America Stands—116 pages chock full of highly relevant information and analysis about what the Council calls “strategic differentiators” in education, entrepreneurship, research and development and other critical indices. It should be required reading for American policymakers. In fact, especially in light of the many challenges confronting the country, they should be made to commit it to memory. You too should read it. It is a critical reminder of the things that we should be emphasizing in the United States as we scan the more distant horizons. It also reminds us about popular misconceptions that can lead us far astray.

“The rapid entry of emerging markets into the global economy, the restructuring of global corporations to leverage those new opportunities, and the growing value of innovation, services and intangibles have transformed the competitiveness environment for the U.S. economy, American companies and American workers” (Index, p. 13). So begins the step-by-step look at how the United States fares relative to the rest of the world in the foundations of competitiveness and the sources of future prosperity.