In need of an overhaul
• Today’s metaphor for America’s decline: The U.S. as LAX. Thomas Friedman makes a salient point. (Fresno Bee)
• An international incident over full body scanners: A parliamentary delegation of Pakistani officials refused to go through scanners at Washington’s Dulles Airport, instead electing to return to Pakistan. (Press TV)
• The U.S. DOT shut down Tierra Santa Inc., the bus company involved in a crash that killed six people in Arizona last week. The company had a number of shady dealings, including a poor safety record and improper authorization to transport passengers over state lines. (LATimes)
• The fits and starts of Philly’s urban regeneration (Philadelphia Inquirer)
• Time for New Deal 2.0? American mayors want a remake of the FDR-inspired plan to tackle unemployment and infrastructure problems. (Wall Street Journal)
• A random act of kindness is recognized by a Boston commuter. (Christian Science Monitor)
• If sustainable design wins out, tourists could enjoy a Central Asian Switzerland. (Eurasianet)
• While many in Africa go hungry, foreign countries are increasing their hold on the continent’s arable land for the benefit of their own populations. (Guardian UK)
• Kudos to Bloomington High School South for their “Calories to Kilowatts” program. The Panthers have a gym that’s absolutely electric. (AP)
March 8th, 2010 at 12:40 pm
Freedman makes an interesting point quoting the INTEL guy. (Oddly enough, LAX didn’t actually have anything to do with his article.) But he makes one big mistake. Semiconductors are last centuries news. We have just about squeezed every ounce of power out of silicone that we can. There is quite a bit of growth left in portable devices, but not 20 years of more growth. I hate to see any industry move to cheaper labour over seas, but that’s the way the global markets work.
On the other hand, what America DOES need to do, is follow the guys advice for another industry. Clean Energy. That is going to be the growth economy of the next 50 years as nations around the world turn off their dirty fossil fuel plants and look for alternatives. And that is a place where America desperately needs to get its act together, start investing, and start developing before we’re buying all of our clean energy tech from Europe and China as well. I’ld much rather them buy the tech from us.
But that won’t happen if we continue to prop up oil and coal with artificial, tax payer supported, cheap prices.