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Is America Falling Off the Flat Earth? (2007) / Chapter Skim
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AMERICA, WE HAVE A PROBLEM
Pages 17-21

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 17...
... For example • The US share of the world's leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing capacity dropped from 36% to 11% in the past 7 years. • Chemical companies closed 70 facilities in the United States in 2004 and were in the process of closing 40 more the following year.
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From page 18...
... (France now derives 78% of its electric power from nuclear sources; Lithuania, 72%; Belgium, 54%; Armenia, 42%; Japan, 30%; and the United States, 19%.) • Nearly 60% of the patents filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office in the field of information technology now originate in Asia.
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From page 19...
... • The United States is falling relative to its economic competitors in broadband Internet access. As recently as 2000 it was in first place; now it ranks 16th in the fraction of citizens having broadband connections and 61st in the use of mobile telephony per capita.
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From page 20...
... The top 10 reasons for choosing a selected location were the country's growth potential, followed by the availability of highly qualified personnel, the existence of local customers, the strength of intellectual-property protection, the ease of negotiating intel lectual-property rights, the inherent cost of conducting R&D, the ease of collaborating with local universities, the availability of university faculty with scientific or engineering expertise, the absence of regulatory and other restrictions, and the suitability of the coun try as an export platform. The bottom line is that the United States is today a net importer of high-technology products.
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From page 21...
... Russians, perhaps understandably pragmatic, are projecting the outcome of the world competitiveness race in the form of a joke that one repeatedly hears on the streets: "The optimists are studying English, the realists are studying Chinese, and the pessimists are buying Kalashnikovs." 21
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Key Terms

  • gathering storm
  • graduation rate
  • city executed
  • foreign students
  • studying chinese

  • public offerings
  • engineering expertise
  • south korea
  • pension liability
  • stifling congestion

  • selected location
  • rapidly expanding
  • safer world
  • paid nearly
  • plants costing

  • internet access
  • foreign financial
  • competitiveness race
  • inherent cost
  • angeles times

  • students studying
  • highly qualified
  • export platform
  • humane world
  • buying kalashnikovs

  • falling relative
  • automakers announced
  • auto mobile
  • american exchanges
  • decade ago


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