Restoring the American Dream Through Immigration and Entrepreneurship
The American dream has long been a powerful motivating force that has driven much of what the United States as a nation has achieved, yet between the fallout from the recent economic recession and the more long-term consequences of globalization, that dream is increasingly in jeopardy. While a 2011 survey by Xavier University reported that most Americans say they have achieved the American dream personally, two thirds believe the country is in a permanent decline, and three-fourths believe it will be harder for their children and grandchildren to follow in their footsteps.
Much of this gloomy outlook stems from high unemployment, which is why we need to focus our efforts on fostering entrepreneurship, the ultimate driver of new job creation. Startup firms account for almost all of the net job growth in our economy, as due to offshoring and automation, mature firms destroy as many jobs as they create. Americans have always been an innovative, entrepreneurial people, and in general American entrepreneurs appear to be responding well to increased competition from foreign entrepreneurs who are chasing their own version of the American dream. Nonetheless, there are a number of factors threatening the United States' ability to compete in the innovation race, not least of which is inadequate training for American entrepreneurs.
Entrepreneurship is an extremely complex activity, and many business schools have been slow to realize the value a distinct entrepreneurial curriculum can offer. But we need to provide cutting-edge entrepreneurship education so that America has a well-trained pool of potential entrepreneurs. Businesses founded by people with a college degree have far lower failure rates than average, and college entrepreneurship programs are extremely helpful in teaching students the mechanics of writing a business plan and obtaining funding; developing essential finance, negotiation, and marketing skills; and instilling confidence in young people to pursue their ideas. A good entrepreneurship program can provide aspiring entrepreneurs with focus, teach them what pitfalls to avoid, and greatly increase their chances of success.
In addition to improving entrepreneurship education, we also need to start limiting the exportation of business and technical knowledge. Our higher educational system is amongst the best in the world, and currently there are over half a million foreign students enrolled in American universities. The United States has long relied upon immigration to provide us with an influx of new talent and human capital, but currently there are too many students who are trained in the United States who then return to their home countries and found businesses there, exporting our knowledge to lower-wage economies that compete with American workers for jobs. Going forward, we need to revise our political policies to ensure that we retain entrepreneurial students and harness their job-creating potential for the United States.
Last but not least, America's young people need a lot more applied, technical training than they are currently getting if they want to maintain their standard of living and continue to achieve the American dream as we know it. One of the key problems that American entrepreneurs will face over the next several decades is that even when they have high-paying jobs to offer, there will most likely be a lack of adequately trained American workers to fill them. This argument may seem counter-intuitive now, when the unemployment rate is still high, but the U.S. economy will eventually regain its equilibrium, and the American educational system is simply not preparing students sufficiently for the highly skilled jobs that innovative, high-tech companies require. The education of inner city youth in particular presents a big challenge, as with the elimination of jobs in the manufacturing sector, the only option for most inner city workers will be service sector jobs that pay less than the living wage. If we fail to educate the students in urban high schools more effectively, crime will increase as economic opportunity diminishes.
If we want to ensure that the American dream will continue to exist for future generations, we need to attract and retain the best entrepreneurial talent in the world, then provide that talent with a top-notch entrepreneurial education and a well-trained, technically-minded workforce capable of turning great business ideas into a reality. That means staying ahead of the curve, and the educational community must keep up with technological changes in order to adequately train the future American workforce. It won't be enough for the United States to simply recruit and train more entrepreneurs; we also need to create a more entrepreneurial workforce.
Bob Skandalaris is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and the founder of Entrepreneurial America, a blog dedicated to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship. He has launched numerous companies including Quantum Ventures of Michigan, which specializes in the acquisition and development of middle-market firms, and is the author of several books including The Evolution of the American Dream and Rebuilding the American Dream. To learn more, please visit: www.entrepreneurial-america.com
Source: http://ezinearticles.com/6394482
spider man fox sports yellow malaysia news nursery rhymes nursery rhymes srm