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MA Governor Wants More New Tech

Posted by Zonk on from the why-is-it-about-asia-at-all dept.

turnitover writes "Cryptically stating that Asia wants the U.S. to become 'the France of the 21st century,' Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney made a public call for more innovation in technology, reports eWEEK.com. He urged more investment and development and, yes, a move to OpenDocument, as reported previously on Slashdot." From the article: "Underlining the challenge, Romney said leaders of one technology firm in Massachusetts anticipated that 90 percent of its skilled labor would be in Asia in 10 years. He also pointed to statistics that show the United States graduating only 4,400 mathematics and science PhDs each year compared with 24,900 math and science PhDs for greater Asia."

10 of 500 comments (clear)

  1. Just a few points... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny


    OK....here's what I took away from this article:

    Asia would like us to become the France of the 21st century.

    Wow...one statement that manages to offend both the Americans and the French. Well done, sir!

    China and India have a population a multiple of ours.

    While I'm certain this statement is factually correct (it can't help but be), I nevertheless find myself wondering just what multiple Romney is alluding to here. Three? Ten? Two-fiths? i?

    In foreign policy he [Romney] said we must win the war against a "radical jihad," but that we must enable jihadists to become part of the global economy.

    Ahh...there we go...I bet the Islamic fundamentalists were feeling left out by this point. Nice to see Romney managed to squirrel in a jab at the boogyman of international terrorism during his call for more tech innovation....at this point, his speech is sounding spookily like a platform for running for office...

    Romney, a Republican, has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate.

    OK, now I'm scared.

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    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Just a few points... by pizzaman100 · · Score: 5, Funny
      Asia would like us to become the France of the 21st century.

      It's bad enough that we're losing high tech jobs, but if our women stop shaving and washing that will be the coup de grâce.

  2. Quality not quantity by bjorniac · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, the US graduates fewer PhDs in math and physics. I'm trying to be one of them. But the quality of the US PhD programs are what brought me here (I'm not USian). You can graduate a million PhDs from a degree farm somewhere but if they haven't had the same level of education they aren't going to be as influential. I'm not saying that asian universities are bad, just that there needs to be a deeper insight into this than just raw numbers.

  3. Well, Duh! by Optic7 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Greater Asia has over 3.5 Billion people! The US is just scratching 300 Million. So we are still doing better than them in Math/Science PhDs, percentage-wise.

  4. Too little, too late? by blastard · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Romney needed to act on this 3-4 years ago.
    I've been part of the tech downturn at the time. Many of my ex-co-workers left the state because there were too few opportunities.

    The state spent lots of money paying unemployment insurance, and the unemployed were effectively prevented from starting up their own companies because they would lose benefits the day they registered their company.

    All these well qualified individuals could not use their skills during that time. Instead, they left for less costly pastures.

    Massachusetts was the only state to lose population in 2004. And it wasn't losing those on the dole.

  5. England of the 21st Century by bombadillo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Cryptically stating that Asia wants the U.S. to become 'the France of the 21st century,"

    Wouldn't a better analogy be, "the England of the 21st century". After all we do have troops in the same cities around the world (Baghdad, Kabul) as Britain at the turn of the 20th century. We did take the position of world power from the British. Much of our common law is based from British law. But hey, the sun never sets on the British Empire....

  6. They're Not Looking at the Full Picture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    He also pointed to statistics that show the United States graduating only 4,400 mathematics and science PhDs each year compared with 24,900 math and science PhDs for greater Asia."

    That's as may be, but it neglects the fact that the US produces virtually all of the world's Intelligent Design specialists. And that's where the future is, not in the witchcraft practices of math and science.

  7. What did you expect? by willow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Science, math, and engineering education and professions are disrespected by the educational system (we'd rather fund our sports teams), the government (your scientific results don't support our politics), businesses (your work is critical to us but we can't pay you more than your overseas competition), and media (entertainers are cool, geeks drool).

    I doubt this will change until it's too late.

    --
    Moderation in everything, including moderation.
  8. Getting a PhD doesn't pay anymore by geneing · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Just yesterday I read in my university newspaper that NSF did a study and found that getting a PhD in science and engineering doesn't really pay anymore. On average you do earn more if you have a doctorate degree, but you never recoop the earnings you lost while earning your degree. I think the conclusion that economists would make is that there is an oversupply of PhD's.

    Many would say that you don't get a doctorate degree for the money alone. It was not the main motivation for me either.

  9. Please ignore Romney... by SuperBanana · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I live in MA, and Romney has been one colossal pain in the ass.

    • Countless "initiatives" and campaign platforms of his have barely seen the light of day. He immediately took a "tough guy" stance with the legislature, assuring he's been a "lame duck governor" since before he was sworn in. He claimed his business experience (he headed Bain Capital, an aquisition firm which oppertunistically bought up companies, "trimmed the fat" by firing huge numbers of employees, etc. He was infamous for his my-way-or-the-highway attitude; very much a stereotypical rich white power broker asshole.) About the only good thing to come of Romney's "tough guy" stance was that Thomas Finneran (former speaker of the house) is gone.
    • He has fought relentlessly against public opinion and the court system to ban gay marriage. Loves to talk about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, but doesn't like to mention in the same discussion that he's a Mormon- a religion which used to promote treating women like cattle and marrying as many as you like.
    • He claims the US Olympics as one of his greatest victories, "turning them around"- except the only reason it worked was because of massive bailouts by the federal government. He doesn't like to talk about the stories of him going into screaming rages at teenage Olympic volunteers- in public.
    • Has spent virtually all of his time in office sucking up to conservative Republicans on a national level, clearly desperate to run for President. He's always taking trips internationally and around the country, pretty clearly trying to make himself a national/international player. Keeps dropping hints about "aspirations" but then denying them categorically. Uses his wife's chronic illnesses as an excuse for why he hasn't decided if he's running or not. More likely, he's trying to decide if the Republican party has even the slimmest chance of putting anybody in office higher than "senator", and if he should settle for that instead of trying to secure a presidential nomination.

    The man is a calculating, cold, arrogant, mean, power-brokering son of a bitch.

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