It would be more effective to send MIT to the emerging economies rather than encouraging brain drain which involves issues of post-graduate opportunity more than student loyalty to their home countries. It is happening.
Still, your point can be strengthened by focusing on the restrictive export policies of the US relating to technology, including soft ware (even internet browsers and cryptography). The total militarization of peace has enable allowed global capital to restrict technology transfer in the name of national security. Data management, IT etc, are all classified as dual use, even for banking use. The emerging economies are misguided into thinking that the relation of "high tech" manufacturing represents technology transfer. Even in high labor education Singapore, the production of hard disks represents only the arrival of "clean room" sweat shops. The real technology, memory science and strorage technology, remains securely at R& D centers in Silicon Valley. The production of Boeing and Airbus airliners in China that the Chinese are buying with hard dollars involves only the matching of colored parts by "technicians" of a wing of a tail section. The real technology of aircraft design remains in the home countries. The electrification of sewing machines or the trade up to soldering irons operated by armies of underpaid women is held up proudly as technology transfer by neo-liberal economists.
Henry
Doug Henwood wrote:
> Brad De Long wrote:
>
> >try to encourage inflows of foreign direct investment--for inflows of
> >foreign direct investment are one of the best ways to transfer technology
> >from the industrial core to the periphery, and the technology gap between
> >the industrial core and the periphery is now wider than it has ever been
> >before.
>
> ...as FDI flows have increased. What evidence is there for real tech xfr
> through FDI? Korea was very restrictive about investment inflows, and
> developed considerable technical skills; Mexico has been wide open for 20
> years and has little other than a low-wage assembly sector to show for it.
> It'd make more sense for development authorities to spend a few mil sending
> local kids to MIT on the condition they return home to work.
>
> Doug