America’s Competitive Advantage

Okay it’s not two weeks so technically I’m still on pace…better then last time anyways.

So this topic is something that’s been mulling in my head for a long time, years to be honest. It starts with my extended family back in India. Many of them have a somewhat cynical view of America, and given India’s recent economic success, some have - with a little too much excitement - told me things like “So what’s happening to America now? India is the place to be.” For the most part I would brush these aside, reasoning that these relatives are ignorant and biased.

What used to be whispers have spread so much that now you can hardly go a few days without hearing some article or interview claiming that “the end of America” is near. Again, I largely dismissed those claims too - the media has been known to exaggerate before. But last week, during the inauguration of  Northwestern’s new president, Thomas Friedman spoke. After outlining some of the concepts in his book Hot, Flat and Crowded, Friedman moved to the area of education. And here Friedman advocated something that has stuck with me: We need an imagination revolution in education. America’s top export, by far and large, has been ingenuity and innovation - applied imagination in other words. As Friedman argued, our excuses not to use imagination are running out. With the internet, it’s incredibly easy to find a programmer, a graphic designed, a marketer, and any other tools one might need - all we have to do is provide the idea.

Today, a Professor came to my dorm to discuss this speech, and he raised a fascinating point. This Professor, Adam Goodman, recently visited China over the summer. Once Goodman landed in China and entered his cab, he faced a starling revelation. Not knowing any Chinese, Goodman figured he should be fine; after all he was leaving a major international airport. So, without hesitation, Goodman proceeded to give his driver directions in English. The driver responded with a blank look - not only did he not know English, he didn’t care. And, according to Goodman, this is when he knew that one day, very soon, America will no longer be the lone superpower of the world (if we can even retain that status). Discussing this issue in China, Goodman heard someone profound. As Goodman explained how he felt America’s time was up, this man responded, “No see, we are great at taking ideas and streamlining them to make them better - that’s our specialty. But we still need America to come up with the ideas for us.” Like Friedman said, imagination is our competitive advantage.

I’m going to write soon (like hopefully this weekend) about the future of this competitive advantage, unfortunately right now there isn’t enough time. But the follow up to this post will be up very soon.