Tech Industry Execs Push For Competition Policy
Chief executives representing some of the nation's top high-tech companies called for a concerted, long-term effort to raise the nation's competitiveness.
Intel Corp.'s (INTC) Craig Barrett and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s (HPQ) Carly Fiorina told reporters Wednesday that the push should resemble the public-private partnerships of the 1980s, mounted in the face of a strong challenge to core U.S. industries from Japan.
The challenge now, Barrett said, is from the "inclusion of about half of the world's population into the free economic system within the last decade," including China, the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, India and elsewhere, with well-educated workers and about three billion people.
But facing mounting criticism in an election year about the high-tech industry's movement of jobs offshore, Barrett and Fiorina also warned against erecting barriers to trade or foreign investment.
Instead, they called for a long-term campaign to increase the nation's competitive advantages by improving education, increasing spending on university research, wiring the nation for broadband, and creating a business-friendly environment. They were speaking to reporters as leaders of a technology association called the Computer Systems Policy Project, whose members also include executives from companies such as International Business Machines Inc. (IBM) and Dell Inc. (DELL).
Neither the Bush administration nor any of the Democrats running for president have fully addressed these issues, the executives said.
The U.S. has the opportunity to be competitive in new markets and to use new markets to design, develop and manufacture products, Barrett said. Nearly 60% of Intel's products are sold outside the U.S., he noted, and the company has had offshore plants since its inception.
"Fundamentally, we have to decide whether we are going to be competitive with these new entrants into the world's markets," Barrett said. "The primary policy issue is whether the United States chooses to compete and be competitive or takes a more isolationist standpoint and chooses to erect barriers."
Barrett agreed that winning more federal spending on education and research, while getting tax cuts for research and development, will be difficult as the nation's budget deficit grows. But he added that the U.S. spends $40 billion to subsidize agriculture - which he called the "industry of the 19th century" - and only $5 billion on research and development.
Barrett said he was pleased with the Bush administration's move to apply performance standards to education through the "No Child Left Behind" law. The executives have called for full funding of the law.
But, he added. "I don't think the issues we're talking about in terms of competitiveness have really been approached by either the administration or the Democratic candidates (for president) at this time."
Without commenting on any of the specific Democratic candidates, Fiorina said: "I think it is difficult to be for job creation and at the same time be against business. Business is what creates jobs, so I think it is a necessity for the public and private sector to engage in a productive dialogue" about competitiveness.
美科技行业联合呼吁增强美国竞争力
美国一些一流高科技公司的首席执行长呼吁通过长期的共同努力来提高国家的竞争力。
英特尔(Intel Corp., INTC)首席执行长贝瑞特(Craig Barrett)和惠普公司(Hewlett-Packard Co., HPQ)首席执行长卡丽?费奥瑞娜(Carly Fiorina)周三对记者表示，这次应该像二十世纪八十年代那样，由公共部门和私营领域达成联盟。当时，他们主要是为应对日本对美国核心行业的挑战。
贝瑞特表示，目前美国面临的挑战来自包括中国、前苏联、东欧、印度等在过去十年间加入自由经济体系的国家。这些国家共有约30亿人口，约占世界总人口的一半，国内有许多受过高等教育的劳动力。
但同时，贝瑞特和费奥瑞娜反对对贸易和海外投资设置障碍。他们呼吁通过提高教育、增加大学研究费用、全面配备宽带设施以及创造良好的商业环境来提高国家竞争力。
贝瑞特和费奥瑞娜是作为电脑业科技联盟组织Computer Systems Policy Project的领导人对记者作上述表示的。其他成员还有国际商业机器公司(International Business Machines, IBM)和戴尔公司(Dell Inc., DELL)的管理人士。
该组织在周三公布的新闻稿中称，政府通过限制雇佣海外员工的努力将得不偿失，并可能导致贸易伙伴的报复甚至引发贸易战。向亚洲和其它地区转移工作是未来获取利润的必要举措。
美国商务部(Commerce Department)上月的一份报告称，越来越多的技术性工作从美国转至加拿大、印度、爱尔兰、以色列、菲律宾和中国，并预测会有更多的美国公司计划将部分工作转移至海外。
这一直是几次国会听证会的讨论焦点。一些立法者已要求美国国会总审计办公室(General Accounting Office)研究技术性工作向海外转移对经济的影响。
