Initial thoughts

[timelets]

What made America great in the 20th century?
- Industrial production methods invented by Henry Ford
- Anti-trust legislation and enforcement
- Self-destruction of Europe during WWI and WWII
- Industrial R&D labs
- Research Universities and immigration of scientists from Europe/UK
- Transportation infrastructure
- High-tech venture capital
- Broad access to higher education and, as a consequence, big productivity gains
- The entertainment industry

What makes it difficult for America to stay great in the 21st century?
- The industrial production employment model is gone (either through humans in the developing countries or robots)
- The emergence of China and EC as major world players, both economically and culturally
- Industrial R&D labs are gone (except, maybe in pharma)
- Broad higher education doesn't result in productivity gains

What can we do about it?
- Rethink the service economy, esp health and education
- Provide broad access to VC capital based on merits
- Next gen transportation infrastructure
- Next gen entertainment (experience) industry
- Next gen computing and communications