Humility is a pre-requisite for the globally lagging US economy to catch up:

The United State officialdom, the private sector, and politicians, MUST own up to the fact that its economy is lagging behind its global competitors!

The United States MUST realize that it is in a catch-up mode, and that it is not the industrial leader that it once was, except perhaps in the highly limited area of weapon development and manufacturing.   

No one would argue with the fact that for a national economy to be a competitive player in the Twenty-first Century global economy, it must generate competitive, desirable, and sellable products.

Since in 2008/9 the United States is lagging behind the global community in making viable commercial products, it is time that Americans accept the fact that our designers, products, and workers, are not necessarily the best in the world.

As long as America, including government, members of the private section, and politician, continue to insist that America is best and therefore does not need to improve, catch-up and surpass global competition, the United States will remain behind and fall further back of competition.

For those who question America’s inferior state as a maker and supplier of products, just view a few facts.

In the last few decades the United States fell behind in a number of areas that it once dominated, some, but not all, include:

Computer hardware

Shipbuilding

Steel production

Appliance and other electrical and electronic production

Clothing

Shoes

Chemical

Medicine

Automotive

There are many other areas in which the United States once was a clear leader, and is now an “also-run,” or a follower A case in point where foreign producers caught up is the aircraft industry.

The reasons that the United States fell behind are many, not the least of them is arrogance that kept the United States from realizing that it has no monopoly on brains, and that others can catch and surpass it. Another significant reason is greed; United States companies elected to sacrifice long-term leadership by going to countries with low labor costs to enhance short-term profitability.

The message to President-elect Obama is that, at the risk of loosing popularity, he must inform industry that it must catch up with others who are indeed not inferior, and perhaps even superior. We need to admit that the United States must play catch-up so that it can become a viable product economy.

As part of any economic plan MUST include provision to aid US industry become an effective product generator.