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> “All of us in business,” Mr. Grove wrote, “have a responsibility to maintain the industrial base on which we depend and the society whose adaptability — and

> “All of us in business,” Mr. Grove wrote, “have a responsibility to maintain the industrial base on which we depend and the society whose adaptability — and stability — we may have taken for granted.” Thats the money quote to me, and so much of what is overlooked when talking about industry and to a large extent, social welfare programs. I wish the overton window included the concept of the costs required to maintain a useful, stable society.

HillaryBriss 11y ago
Yes. And not only business leaders, but also the economists who've been giving these business leaders intellectual cover (and advising presidents) for decades now. It seems that today's high ranking economists, who are highly influential and defend their intellectual turf aggressively, rely on models which ignore/omit Mr. Grove's industrial policy insights. US consumers get cheaper manufactured goods if the US economy just simply outsources all orders for these goods to factories in East Asia. And that seems to be about as deep as these economic analyses go. But where is the economic analysis that recognizes and quantifies the cost of losing so much domestic manufacturing capability? When I see how long it takes Indiegogo and Kickstarter hardware makers to actually create their finished products -- because they have to travel to China to meet with part suppliers and manufacturers -- I wonder how much US innovation has been crippled by the policies top US economists have confidently articulated and defended for the last 30 or 40 years.
- eli_gottlieb 11y ago
  >When I see how long it takes Indiegogo and Kickstarter hardware makers to actually create their finished products -- because they have to travel to China to meet with part suppliers and manufacturers -- I wonder how much US innovation has been crippled by the policies top US economists have confidently articulated and defended for the last 30 or 40 years. Yeah, it's actually a bit vexing when we lose one of the members of my team periodically for trips to China or Taiwan to deal with new hardware.

HillaryBriss 11y ago

Yes. And not only business leaders, but also the economists who've been giving these business leaders intellectual cover (and advising presidents) for decades now. It seems that today's high ranking economists, who are highly influential and defend their intellectual turf aggressively, rely on models which ignore/omit Mr. Grove's industrial policy insights. US consumers get cheaper manufactured goods if the US economy just simply outsources all orders for these goods to factories in East Asia. And that seems to be about as deep as these economic analyses go. But where is the economic analysis that recognizes and quantifies the cost of losing so much domestic manufacturing capability? When I see how long it takes Indiegogo and Kickstarter hardware makers to actually create their finished products -- because they have to travel to China to meet with part suppliers and manufacturers -- I wonder how much US innovation has been crippled by the policies top US economists have confidently articulated and defended for the last 30 or 40 years.

eli_gottlieb 11y ago
>When I see how long it takes Indiegogo and Kickstarter hardware makers to actually create their finished products -- because they have to travel to China to meet with part suppliers and manufacturers -- I wonder how much US innovation has been crippled by the policies top US economists have confidently articulated and defended for the last 30 or 40 years. Yeah, it's actually a bit vexing when we lose one of the members of my team periodically for trips to China or Taiwan to deal with new hardware.