Productivity, the Workforce, and Technology Education

While the United States was once the premier leader in industrial strength and influence, countries previously unable to compete with the United States in both technological and economic arenas have made drastic changes in the way they develop and produce goods. Through modernization of their factories and by using innovative organizational systems, these so called non-industrial countries have begun to compete with the industrial giants on their own turf. New competition from countries such as Japan, Korea, and Brazil is having a dramatic impact on the economic, political, and educational systems within the United States. Examples of the results from this new competition include rising trade deficits, an increasing budget deficit, slow productivity growth, stagnant real wages, and a declining share of world markets (Young, 1988). All of these trends constitute a threat to the American standard of living. Unless changes are made to increase the competitive ability of the United States on economic and technological grounds, the quality of life in this country is certain to fall.