America as third world?

The presidential election will be over, or almost over, by the time most of you read these words. So it's time to look past the politicking--and get real.

I'd argue, and I think many of you would agree, that America's economic reality is not nearly as rosy as politicians of various stripes have made it out to be. We keep hearing that the U.S. is the most powerful nation in the world. But consider these facts:

* Technologically, the Asians and Europeans are ahead in several areas, such as cell phone networks and broadband usage. It is Europe, not the U.S., that is leading in civilian aircraft, long a key barometer of industrial prowess.

* Our K-12 educational system is broken. We are not producing enough high school graduates who have the right skill sets, particularly in math and science, to eventually take high caliber jobs in business. And because of ideology and politics, we can't agree on how to fix the problem.

* Rather than addressing the perils of depending so heavily on imported energy, we are becoming more dependent with each passing day.

* Government spending is out of control, with the net effect that Japan and China and other nations own a larger and larger percentage of our national debt.

* Consumers are buying too many products they don't need with money they don't really have, building up a huge debt overhang.

* The U.S. political system has been degraded. The flood of money into politics means that many decisions can simply be purchased.

* The nation's infrastructure of highways, bridges and tunnels is often jammed with traffic or woefully out of date, or both. The electricity transmission grid is prone to blackout.

* Roughly 45 million citizens do not have health care insurance, while the costs of providing health care to the insured are rising at double-digit rates.

Sounds a lot like a third world country to me. Of course, I know that the U.S. economy is still the world's largest. It is still the most innovative overall and it possesses huge strengths. And unquestionably, America boasts the most powerful military force.

But our competitive advantage, which undergirds military power, will shift unless we overcome our hubris and tackle the structural challenges. We are at a particular disadvantage when it comes to responding to the competitive pressures coming from Japan and Asia. They continue to emerge; we continue to hide our heads in the sand.

So whether it is Bush II or Kerry I, there is much work to be done. If chief executives want to maintain the United States as a primary operating platform--indeed, as home--they need to communicate a sense of urgency to those who will manage the nation's political life for the next four years. As problem-solvers, CEOs need to help political leaders break out of partisan bickering and find solutions that work.

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