Helping America Stay competitive in a Global Economy

In 1956 America was in uproar.  The Soviet Union, showing off its scientific and technical prowess, had just launched Sputnik and every 90 minutes this basketball sized satellite crossed over the United States.  It was frightening, and the American people asked why we weren’t in space, and why weren’t we moving forward at least as fast in science and technology as our Cold War competitors the Russians.  The answer, after a little soul searching, was that we weren’t training and graduating enough scientists, engineers and mathematicians.  The Soviet Union was and we weren’t.  It was that simple.  The Congress, with a speed that’s hard to imagine today, responded a few months later with the National Defense Education Act.  Its soul purpose was to improve the teaching of engineering and mathematics at all levels – from elementary schools to the nation’s best universities.  It was one of the most far sighted pieces of legislation in our nation’s history.  But, alas that was 55 years ago.  And today, in what has

The Bureau of Labor Statistics collects data on every aspect of our nation’s economy. This includes calculating the GDP, the unemployment rate, as well as tracking how many people work in the various sectors of the economy.  Sadly, one of the most depressing statistics the Bureau monitors, at least until recently, has been the number of Americans employed in manufacturing.  For the past fifteen years, without let up, without regard for the state of the economy, and seemingly unstoppable, this figure has steadily fallen.  However, this decline is part of a larger overall downward trend.  In 1960, 42% of our nation’s work force was employed in manufacturing.  Today, only 11% are employed in actually “making things.”

 This is no surprise to most Americans and it’s hardly news to those of us in the Northern Neck.  Major