Dear Commons Community,

There are many discussions going on in our academy and beyond regarding globalization, competition, and the future of our economy.  In today’s NY Times there is a sobering article (see URL below) on how Applied Materials, one of America’s leading technological firms is building a major research center in Xian, China that will concentrate on solar energy production.  Applied Materials’ vice president, Mark Pinto, who is also one of its chief research engineers, is moving his family to Beijing to head up this project.  The article goes on to describe the plethora of students majoring in engineering in China and the fact that they can be hired for as little as $730 per month.  I don’t know that we have a solution for this but we need to recognize the severity of the problem if not for ourselves than for our children and grandchildren.

Tony

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/business/global/18research.html?th&emc=th