I have also spent time recently with leaders who definitely do not get it. Unfortunately, they are our leaders. In a world where countries are scrambling to attract capital -- especially high-tech capital -- Congress is too concerned with lobby groups, earmarked expenditures, and mid-term elections to worry about attracting and holding capital. Like Nero, they are fiddling while Rome burns, wasting their time fighting over non-issues like so-called network neutrality and deciding which snouts will enjoy the $7.3 billion Universal Service Fund trough instead of passing the communications legislation overhaul we need to drive investment and productivity higher. Meanwhile, company after company is moving R&D facilities offshore--the share of US companies in the global telecom equipment market has fallen from 40% to 20% in the past 5 years.

posted by James DeLong @ 12:50 PM | Innovation

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