>But there's another serious problem as well - a narrowing of the
>educational attainment gap between the developed and developing
>worlds. That could well inhibit the knowledge-based job creation
>that high-wage western economies are counting on to fill the void of
>the cross-border labor arbitrage. That possibility should not be
>taken lightly. US National Science Foundation data show that the
>United States is currently awarding only about 200,000 bachelor's
>degrees in engineering and science, little changed from trends in
>the mid-1980s. By contrast, Asia's annual graduates of science and
>engineering students (for China, India, Japan, South Korea, and
>Taiwan, combined) has now hit approximately 650,000 per year; that's
>up over 50% from the graduation rate in the mid-1980s and fully
>three times the comparable degree production rate in the US. The US
>has long drawn comfort from the quality differential of its
>educational system; however, in the Internet Age with its ubiquitous
>diffusion of knowledge, innovation, and technological change, that
>may turn out to be an increasingly false sense of security. Needless
>to say, convergence on the human capital front raises serious
>questions about America's future competitive prowess, as well as its
>ability to uncover new sources of job creation.