noteworthy wrote:
It's interesting that no one mentioned this in the discussion about Bush's address, considering how Rising Above The Gathering Storm was received here upon its publication.

I think the president's comment had a different flavor then "Above the Gathering Storm."

The problem I had with gathering storm is that they want to create a number of incentives and programs that entice people who would not otherwise major in engineering and might not really want to, to do so anyway, thus increasing the number of engineers and reducing their cost. This solves the wrong problem.

The president didn't really allude to this in his speech. He is funding basic research, which I support (if its true, he has made promises in the past about basic research funding that didn't seem to connect with the scientists I know). The tax credit is a funny bit of social engineering, but it actually drives things from the right direction. The tax credit makes people cheaper in a way that creates more opportunities for them. And I'm not going to oppose improving math education in public schools. The economic benefit of having smarter people is obvious.

However, I will say after looking over their plan that they still aren't doing anything to help the entrepreneur, and that is the problem.

RE: Academies' Presidents Applaud 'American Competitiveness Initiative'