4 ms·

If under your definition the USA is a heading towards being a third world country then perhaps you should consider your definition of a third world country inad

If under your definition the USA is a heading towards being a third world country then perhaps you should consider your definition of a third world country inadequate.

electromagnetic 17y ago
Agreed, the author lost me in the first paragraph. Sure the US imports a lot of products from (technically speaking) second world countries, however the US has major exports that no one in the world compares to. You want a computer? Show me an operating system used globally by the mass majority that isn't made in the US? The US has a tech sector like no other, if you don't count Windows, Google, Facebook and World of Warcraft as exports then you really have no clue whatsoever about the economy. The raw materials for the development of such things are the luxuries we consider imported from other countries. Yes that futon a Google employee stuck in their office, that in no way contributes to their developing of Analytics, Docs, etc. Get real. Lets be realistic here, we're all versed in computers and development here. Did any Ycombinator developer actually come up with their idea sat in a made-in-the-USA chair, at a made-in-the-USA desk working on a computer solely made-in-the-USA? No! I bet a fair percentage got the majority of their ideas like everybody else, sat on a crapper imported from Indonesia, or at the breakfast table made in China by a Swedish company, or on their commute in a German/Japanese/Korean car or an American car made from parts imported from down the road from me here in Canada. Can we skip the naivety here? The US is switching from a physical exporter to an electronic exporter. Microsoft isn't one of the worlds biggest companies because it hauled dirt around looking for copper that could be turned into wires, it built software that everybody worldwide needs.
- mpf62 17y ago
  Actually, the US isn't a net exporter anymore. You are importing far more of value than you export (2009: +45%, 2008: +66%) and that is the problem. How are you going to pay the people abroad that dig in the dirt for copper that you actually need? Currently, the US as a whole does pay with promises (debt). There are at least about 10 companies the size of Microsoft missing to fill that gap.

If under your definition the USA is a heading towards being a third world country then perhaps you should consider your definition of a third world country inadequate.

electromagnetic 17y ago

Agreed, the author lost me in the first paragraph. Sure the US imports a lot of products from (technically speaking) second world countries, however the US has major exports that no one in the world compares to. You want a computer? Show me an operating system used globally by the mass majority that isn't made in the US? The US has a tech sector like no other, if you don't count Windows, Google, Facebook and World of Warcraft as exports then you really have no clue whatsoever about the economy. The raw materials for the development of such things are the luxuries we consider imported from other countries. Yes that futon a Google employee stuck in their office, that in no way contributes to their developing of Analytics, Docs, etc. Get real. Lets be realistic here, we're all versed in computers and development here. Did any Ycombinator developer actually come up with their idea sat in a made-in-the-USA chair, at a made-in-the-USA desk working on a computer solely made-in-the-USA? No! I bet a fair percentage got the majority of their ideas like everybody else, sat on a crapper imported from Indonesia, or at the breakfast table made in China by a Swedish company, or on their commute in a German/Japanese/Korean car or an American car made from parts imported from down the road from me here in Canada. Can we skip the naivety here? The US is switching from a physical exporter to an electronic exporter. Microsoft isn't one of the worlds biggest companies because it hauled dirt around looking for copper that could be turned into wires, it built software that everybody worldwide needs.

mpf62 17y ago
Actually, the US isn't a net exporter anymore. You are importing far more of value than you export (2009: +45%, 2008: +66%) and that is the problem. How are you going to pay the people abroad that dig in the dirt for copper that you actually need? Currently, the US as a whole does pay with promises (debt). There are at least about 10 companies the size of Microsoft missing to fill that gap.