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Power wielders in Washington have been put on notice: That the US could lose its competitive edge in science and technology to India, China and some other emerging players unless dramatic steps are taken to stem the rot.
The warning has been sounded by some of the US’s top university presidents and CEOs in a voluminous report prepared by National Academies, the nodal advisory body for science and technology, for the US Congress.
“Without a major push to strengthen the foundations of America’s competitiveness, the United States could soon lose its privileged position,” they said, suggesting a $10 billion investment every year to bolster science, math and engineering studies in the US.
The report points out that the US has to contend not only with the rapid spread of higher learning in countries like India and China, but also with the low cost of their labour. Competitors in virtually every sector are “just a mouse-click away”, it says.
Last year, India rolled out more than 350,000 engineers and China 600,000 — as against the US’s 70,000. And on the costs front, the two Asian giants hold a phenomenal advantage. For the cost of one chemist or engineer in the US, a company can hire 11 engineers in India or five chemists in China, says the report.
The report proposes radical measures to retain international students coming to the US for higher studies in science, math and engineering. If these students get job offers and pass a security screening test, they should automatically get work permits and expedited residence status, it says.
“America must act now to preserve its strategic and economic security. the building blocks of our economic leadership are wearing away. The challenges that America faces are immense,” said Norman R Augustine, retired chairman of Lockheed Martin, who headed the 20-member panel.
Intel’s Craig R Barrett, Exxon Mobil’s Lee R Raymond, Dupont’s Charles O Holliday Jr and Merck’s P Roy Vagelos were among the big guns on the panel. Academics included MIT’s president emeritus Charles M Vest, Harvard professor George M Whitesides and Yale president Richard C Levin.
