That Used to Be Us_ How America Fell Behind in thted and How We Can Come Back - Friedman, Thomas L. & Mandelbaum, Michael [125]
In the Terrible Twos we combined cutbacks in higher education with limits on admitting talented immigrants to our shores. The combination is eating away at our capacity to produce and attract creative risk takers at a time when other countries are better and better able to keep their own at home.
If we don’t reverse this trend, over time “we could lose our most important competitive edge—the only edge from which sustainable advantage accrues—having the world’s biggest and most diverse pool” of high-IQ risk takers, said Mundie. “If we don’t have that competitive edge, our standard of living will eventually revert to the global mean.”
Unfortunately, in the Terrible Twos the American political system failed to enact legislation to reform the nation’s immigration system. President George W. Bush made a mighty effort but was blocked largely by members of his own party, who were so outraged by illegal immigration that they could not think straight about the vital importance of legal immigration. “The H-1B visa program—that is the key to making us the innovators of energy and computers,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican, who has been critical of his own party’s obstinacy on this issue. “It has been for most of our life. If you wanted to get really smart and have a degree that would allow you to be a leader in the world, you came to America. Well, it’s hard as hell to get to America now. And once you get here, it’s hard to stay.”
Immigration reform that better secures the borders, establishes a legal pathway toward citizenship for the roughly twelve million illegal immigrants who are here, and enables, even recruits, high-skilled immigrants to become citizens is much more urgent than most of us realize. We need both the brainy risk takers and the brawny ones. Low-skilled immigrants may not be able to write software, but such people also contribute to the vibrancy of the American economy. As the Indian American entrepreneur Vivek Paul once remarked to Tom: “The very act of leaving behind your own society is an intense motivator. Whether you are a doctor or a gardener, you are intensely motivated to succeed.”
Million? You Must Mean Billion? No. Million!
In the fall of 2010, Tom had a visit from Kishore Mahbubani, a Singaporean academic and retired diplomat. In the course of their conversation, Tom told him of the Obama administration’s plan to set up eight innovation hubs to work on the world’s eight biggest energy problems. It was precisely the kind of project that could expand the boundaries of basic science across the entire energy field and launch new industries. Tom explained that the program had not yet been fully funded because Congress, concerned about every dime America spends these days, was reluctant to appropriate the full request of $25 million for each energy breakthrough project, let alone for all eight at once. Only three projects were therefore moving ahead, Tom told him, and none of the three would get the full $25 million. Mahbubani interrupted him in mid-sentence.
“You mean billion,” he said.
“No,” Tom replied, “we’re talking about $25 million.”
“Billion,” Mahbubani repeated.
“No. Million,” Tom insisted.
Mahbubani was stunned. He could not believe that while his little city-state was investing more than $1 billion to make itself a biomedical science hub and attract the world’s best talent, America was debating about spending mere millions on game-changing energy research. That, alas, is us today: Think small and carry a big ego. This may seem to be a minor issue, but it is not.
Nations usually thrive or languish not because of one bad big decision but because of thousands of bad small ones—decisions in which priorities