Andy Grove On What America Needs Most: Jobs
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Loading ...I remember Andy Grove when Silicon Valley was where we thought WD-40 was made. Him and Warren Buffett were contemporaries back in the day and it was one of Buffett’s biggest mistakes not to invest in Grove’s new company, Intel.
With a $3 Million start-up investment, Intel became a powerhouse company and along with Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, HP and others, led America to its greatest business innovation path in history.
But alas, even when virtually every computer has your product inside and you have world domination, Grove found out it’s not enough. His story in the latest issue of Businessweek is compelling, frightening and one in which politicians need to heed. The consequences will be severe if not.
You will learn that one company in China builds virtually all the components and finished goods for Apple, Dell, HP, Cisco and on and on. You will learn that this one company employs more than triple the employees all the U.S. companies it supplies combined. You will learn this one company employees nearly 1 million people. To put that in perspective, the entire population of Detroit is less than 800,000.
America needs jobs. And fast. The salon industry as tiny as it is needs people to get back to work so they can get back to making appointments. Shopping center vacancies hit a new record last month, over 10%. Have you seen so many “For Lease” signs in your life?
Read the article in your free time. It’s long, it’s complex, it’s worth your time. When you are done reading it, ask yourself one question: “How and why did Asia become so relevant?”
Before you answer that, look at the fiscal status of Illinois, California, Michigan, Florida and countries such as Greece, Spain and Portugal. And think about why these states and for the most part, the federal government, is in dire straits. When you come to the obvious conclusion, you will know the answer to the question.
Andy Grove makes sense. Whether you like it or not, it’s American businesses that will need to turn America around and politicians will either need to get on our side or jump in the ocean and see how far they can swim to China.
Happy Wednesday!
