Sun Setting on American Century - Part 3

Editor's Note: The following work is the third part in a series contributed by attorney, economist and author Perry L. Weed. Weed's article raises distinct observations about America's troubled economy.

The former U.S. competitive advantage of a superior, accessible, broad-based educational system is faltering. We are falling behind in our expertise in math, science and technology. Lower test scores, fewer scientists and engineers, and a diminished commitment to research and development – all evidence our failure to prepare Americans in the skills and brain-power needed for 21st century jobs and competition. For the best and brightest, the immediate financial rewards of managing and manipulating other people’s money far outweigh those of careers in science, technology and engineering or in the production of exportable state-of-the-art goods.

Outside Western nations, the accelerating levels of human and financial capital ready, willing and able to compete in world trade, science and technology is unprecedented. Yet at home, of the 30 occupations projected by the U.S. Department of Labor to see the greatest growth between now and 2014, only six require as much as a bachelor’s degree; most are service-sector jobs, requiring only short-term on-the-job training and are either low or very low paying.

Corporate profit-making now occurs increasingly through financial channels and markets rather than through the trade and production of goods. This accelerates the concentration of wealth and power in multinational corporations and rich investors. A shift has occurred in corporate boardrooms – from those engaged in production to the current emphasis in corporate governance on financial considerations, short-term financial returns and growing dependency on financial markets. Financial institutions are situated at the hub of corporate networks and increasingly set the pace and the rules for cash flow for non-financial companies.

With easy credit and leveraged borrowing, both Washington and the private sector pumped up the housing and financial services sectors but not the productive domestic industries needed to strengthen our global competitiveness. America’s economic energies and resources are not sufficiently focused on renewal, that is, on the innovation and sacrifice required to build private and public infrastructure and production capacity. The nation’s once resourceful and resilient ability to adapt, change and renew seems now to have atrophied, degenerating into denial, excuses and inertia.

The ominous privatization of government operations, pushed by Washington over the last 40 years, is barely discussed and largely unrecognized by the public. It involves the sale of public resources, institutions and functions to private profit-seeking interests subject to corporate governance and barely constrained by respect for the common good. The push for private takeovers covers social security, education, the military, health care, parks, prisons, social programs and national security. In short, it represents the private corporatization of our government and ultimately the extraction of public value, public control and public wealth. . The nation’s water supplies, utilities, highways, ports and airports are in various stages of transfer and surrender through either outright sale or long-term leasing. Over $40 billion worth of deals are now in the works to privatize our roads and highways. In the public sector as well as in the private, foreign competitors, in many instances, are becoming our bankers, landlords and owners.

To follow the whole article, select from the links below.

Sun Setting on American Century Part 1
Sun Setting on American Century Part 2

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