Barack Obama Asked. I Answered.

Sen. Barack Obama spoke about his plans to make us more competitive globally last week in Michigan. After the speech he posted the video and asked people to watch and answer a question over on LinkedIn: What ideas do you have to keep America competitive in the years ahead? My answer is below. I would like the answer to be more thorough, but time being short these days it's still a pretty good thought. Watch the speech after my answer.

The Answer: Innovation in education, energy and infrastructure are key to our reemergence as a global leader. The value of education eludes most boomers and the WWII generation largely because their days of needing the system for their own children are past. However, the stability and the success of our society is directly linked to the ability of all children to be competitive both at home and in the world. You say it well — keep saying it.

As for energy, conserving is as important as creating. Amazingly, we have reached a point where business plans revolve around energy rather than activists alone. You refer to the steel plant that converted to a wind turbine factory retraining its workforce for the conversion. There are so many stories, but two more stories come from purple states that highlight the business value of energy. In the Washington Post, is the story of how Ikea determined that the cost of fuel justified building its first factory in the U.S. Now a forgotten Virginia manufacturing town is revived by Ikea and other foreign investors who need to stay competitive in our market. Thomas Friedman wrote in the NY Times, about how Texas Instruments found more value by building green and in the U.S. Than going conventional in China.

These are stories that are repeated in nearly every state and under Democrat and Republican alike. You already tap into much of this narrative, but there is so much more out there.