Living In Interesting Times

By William H. Stewart
Economist

I normally don’t write book reviews but this one should be read by all those concerned about the world economy and how the islands might fit in. For those interested in where we are and where we are going I recommend the book:

“The World Is Flat” by Thomas L. Freeman. It relates to the great advancement in high tech, information technology, data processing, call centers, optic cables, out-sourcing, soft-ware development and many other changes now taking place in the world dependent upon internet broad band width—changes occurring so fast that many of us can’t keep up.

Upon reading the book I really don‚t see where the islands have much of a chance to participate at a level I once thought. We just don’t have the physical and human infrastructure. In my judgment the future for the islands is tourism—and that‚s where the effort should be directed and not so much toward chasing “high tech stuff.” Here’s why—

The author describes in detail what we in the U.S. are up against in terms of job creation—or lack there-of. In India about 27,000 students graduate in accounting each year who start out at $100 per month and are grateful for such coveted employment. Friedman points out that India graduates about 2.5 million college students each year and about 89,000 MBA‚s annually.

He describes Dalian China where 22 universities are located with 200,000 students. The area has already witnessed 2,800 Japanese companies set up shop.

How can a small island compete with all that?

Such diverse activities as Delta Airlines lost luggage facility is being directed from “out-sourced” locations. U.S. tax returns are being shipped overseas for completion then returned virtually overnight to the U.S. for processing For those of us who witnessed the advent and speed of jet aircraft which resulted in the distortion of our concept of time and space in the vast Pacific and elsewhere—the internet has moved us to an entirely new dimension—far beyond the point where the geography that once separated us has been, in terms of communication, almost entirely nullified.

If that’s not impressive enough imagine the technology involved in hitting a comet 268 million miles distant traveling at a speed of 23,000 mph with an object compatible in size to that of a mosquito hitting a 747—in flight.

Can you possibly imagine the mathematics involved? What’s next? I’m amazed at how far we have come, the degree of change and the wealth that has been created.

I maintain my personal perspective of change and balance such achievements brought about by technological advancement against a memory bank staring during the years of the Great Depression. As a youth I vividly recall one hot summer day in 1936 or 1937 asking my mother for a nickel to buy a popcicle.

She didn’t have a penny much-less a nickel —she tore a corner off the newspaper and wrote 5 cents on it and gave it to me. I ran it to the corner grocer—gave it to the proprietor and he gave me a popcicle and recorded the family debt in his ledger. Just imagine the change in store for the youth of today within their individual memory bank dating from, say, the introduction of the internet. Who knows where such innovation will lead over their life span?

I well know that the “hard times” experienced in the islands are not just distant memories—but few in the United States recall such misfortune as witnessed during the Depression and certainly not the devastation of war on their home soil at least until 9 – 11.

For those of you in school—study hard, get smart—otherwise you will be left behind. and will have to settle for a future of diminished aspirations and reduced income earning ability.

The writing is on the wall that the time is fast approaching, indeed, if it’s not already applicable in most places where a person‚s family and friends will no longer be a guarantee for a job—you will need brains and that means you need an education and marketable skills. Even if you must rely on your family or the good graces of friends for employment you will still be confined to the strings of their geographic influence which will limit your mobility.