In a recent report (MIT Report: U.S. Manufacturing Hits a Wall When It’s Time to Scale), Curt Woodward writes that a group of MIT researchers discovered an almost impassable chasm when looking for investment dollars. The investment dollars were for needed for 150 production companies wanting to move to full-scale production, and they were only available from foreign investors or if moved off-shore.
Why is this a security issue? Because it has been clear for a long time that no one wants to build manufacturing plants in the US. I’m not talking about steel mills; rather, the 150 companies (many started or supported by MIT students, professors, etc.) focused primarily on hi-tech products. Just what we need… move all hi-tech production–the kind of production that is crucial to our economy and our national security–off-shore or make it vulnerable to the whims of foreign investors.
I don’t care whose fault this is; we spend far too much time in this country pointing fingers when we should be sitting down together to solve problems. China is laughing is collective butt off as it steals our intellectual property and increasing builds our technology. I just don’t think it’s that funny…
Tom Olzak on Security 