Opinion You cant keep a bad idea down
Americas election is noisy with ideas except theyre the wrong ones.
I confess,I find it dispiriting to read the polls and see candidates,mostly Republicans,leading in various midterm races while promoting many of the very same ideas that got us into this mess. Am I hearing right? Lets have more tax cuts,unlinked to any specific spending cuts and while were still fighting two wars because that worked so well during the Bush years to make our economy strong and our deficit small. Lets immediately cut government spending,instead of phasing cuts in gradually,while were still mired in a recession because that worked so well in the Great Depression.
Lets roll back financial regulation because weve learned from experience that Wall Street can police itself and average Americans will never have to bail it out. Lets restrict immigration,because,after all,we dont live in a world where Americas most important competitive advantage is its ability to attract the worlds best brains. Lets oppose the free trade system that made us rich.
Lets kowtow even more to public service unions so theyll make even more money than private sector workers,so theyll give even more money to Democrats who will give them even more generous pensions,so not only California and New York will go bankrupt but every other state too. Lets pay for more tax cuts by uncovering waste I cant identify,fraud I havent found and abuse that Ill get back to you on later.
All thats missing is any realistic diagnosis of where we are as a country and what we need to get back to sustainable growth. Actually,such a diagnosis has been done. A nonpartisan group of Americas most distinguished engineers,scientists,educators and industrialists unveiled just such a study in the midst of this campaign. On September 23,the group released a report: Rising Above the Gathering Storm Revisited: Rapidly Approaching Category 5. Said Charles M. Vest,former MIT president: The committees conclusion is that in spite of the efforts of both those in government and the private sector,the outlook for America to compete for quality jobs has further deteriorated over the past five years. But I thought: Were number 1!
Here is a little dose of reality about where we actually rank today, says Vest: sixth in global innovation-based competitiveness,but 40th in rate of change over the last decade; 11th among industrialised nations in the fraction of 25- to 34-year-olds who have graduated from high school; 16th in college completion rate; 22nd in broadband Internet access; 24th in life expectancy at birth; 27th among developed nations in the proportion of college students receiving degrees in science or engineering; 48th in quality of K-12 math and science education; and 29th in the number of mobile phones per 100 people.
This is not a pretty picture,and it cannot be wished away, said Vest. The study recommended a series of steps some that President Obama has already initiated,some that still need Congresss support designed to increase Americas talent pool by vastly improving K-12 science and mathematics education,to reinforce long-term basic research,and to create the right tax and policy incentives so we can develop,recruit and retain the best and brightest students,scientists and engineers in the world. The goal is to make America the premier place to innovate and invest in innovation to create high-paying jobs.
Youll have to Google it,though. The report hasnt received 1/100th of the attention given to Juan Williamss remarks on Muslims.
A dysfunctional political system is one that knows the right answers but cant even discuss them rationally,let alone act on them,and one that devotes vastly more attention to cable TV preachers than to recommendations by its best scientists and engineers.THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
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