Recent US debt crisis raised many questions in my mind. What is debt? What is credit rating? What happens if US defaults? As I was finding the answers to this questions, I got to know more about why US is the world leader today. It had $14.7 trillion GDP in 2010 - an unimaginable amount. It accounts for a quarter of the global GDP. It is a net exporter of food and food items and it controls almost half of world grain exports. Manufacturing occupies a very small portion of US economy as compared to other countries. Yet it is the world’s largest manufacturer with industries like petroleum, steel, automobiles, construction machinery, aerospace, agricultural machinery, telecommunications, chemicals, electronics, food processing, consumer goods, lumber, and mining. It produces approximately 21% of the world manufacturing output, a number that has not changed since the last 40 years!!! Apart from that, the total monetary evaluation of New York Stock Exchange is $10.1 trillion (as of 2008), more than three times from the second biggest stock market - the Japan’s Tokyo Stock Exchange.
Apart from this, the median income of a US household in a year is a staggering $53000! That is huge. Compared to other countries, the US is way ahead in quality of life and per capita income. There is law and order in the country. Police is modernized. They have social benefits and health insurance plans like no other country in the world offers. Truly, the Great Migration in the early 90s to the US was justified.
I kept wondering what was the reason behind such huge success. And then as I kept reading, I came to know. The reason behind it all is one word embedded deep within the visionaries, technocrats and reformists of the US - Innovation. US leaders always encouraged innovative practices. As a fact, the United States has been the birthplace of 161 of Britannica’s 321 Great Innovations, including items such as the airplane, internet, microchip, laser, cellphone, refrigerator, email, microwave, LCD and LED technology, air conditioning, assembly line, supermarket, bar code, electric motor, and ATM. US is home to 30% of world millionaires and 40% of world billionaires, and there are 29.6 million small and large businesses that run in the US. Surely, innovation and business go hand in hand. Who would imagine a world without Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, General Motors, Ford etc. These companies drive the world today.
The data left my mouth open in wonder and amazement. And shocked too. Because in Britanicca’s list, we have only 1 Indian. Since I am a patriot, I felt jealous. So I read more to determine why are the success stories in US based on innovation. The answer was obvious - quality of education in the US. Education system in US a very well-organized system. It is controlled and funded at three levels - Federal, State and Local. And as soon as a child enters middle school in the 4th or 5th year, he/she is given option of choosing subjects based on his/her interest. The subject vary and every discipline is available for study. They have a comprehensive grading system ranging from D- to A+. Apart from this, there a lot of extra-curricular activities that students participate in. Attention is given to all round development. In short, it is a self-sustaining system. And even the college education in the US is world class - we all know it - Purdue, Yale, Harvard, MIT - these are dream destinations for students worldwide.
Compared to US, education in India is far behind. Though we are a very young nation compared to the US, (US gained independence in 1776 and India in 1947) and India has an education system that invites the envy of many countries - we can still do better. At the college and university level - we are almost there, with world class institutes like IIMs and IITs breeding a young talented pool of people every year. But we need to improve education at the grassroots level.
What I remember about my school years is - importance was given only to getting high marks in the examination. Learning subjects and writing on paper, I have never done any project in my school time - a harsh reality. Although the education system is changing in the recent times, I still see much focus given only to cramming up things and getting high marks. An above average student, with excellent marks throughout the school, and studied in IITs and IIMs is not capable of doing innovation. A world class job and business - yes, but innovation - no. India has not invented anything.
There is very low scope for R&D in India, every science student is opting for engineering (including me) - no one takes Sciences. The reason: our education system doesn’t encourage innovation. We are taught so that we can have a degree and earn money in life. So we follow those jobs which are demanded the most, with no respect for our aptitudes and interests. Our IT companies do nothing but outsourcing. We do the the less brainy jobs, all the intelligent decisions are taken in the US. What Indian Software Engineers do is that they substitute US engineers for a fraction of a cost so that they can be engaged in a more fruitful and demanding job - one that requires lot of ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking and innovation.
India needs to wake up to this reality. Encouraging innovations is the only way to be a world leader. We have missed out many things, it is time we board the train and don’t miss out the future. I am neither a US fan nor a India critic. All I am saying is that they have something which is better, which we need to think about.
Apart from this, the median income of a US household in a year is a staggering $53000! That is huge. Compared to other countries, the US is way ahead in quality of life and per capita income. There is law and order in the country. Police is modernized. They have social benefits and health insurance plans like no other country in the world offers. Truly, the Great Migration in the early 90s to the US was justified.
I kept wondering what was the reason behind such huge success. And then as I kept reading, I came to know. The reason behind it all is one word embedded deep within the visionaries, technocrats and reformists of the US - Innovation. US leaders always encouraged innovative practices. As a fact, the United States has been the birthplace of 161 of Britannica’s 321 Great Innovations, including items such as the airplane, internet, microchip, laser, cellphone, refrigerator, email, microwave, LCD and LED technology, air conditioning, assembly line, supermarket, bar code, electric motor, and ATM. US is home to 30% of world millionaires and 40% of world billionaires, and there are 29.6 million small and large businesses that run in the US. Surely, innovation and business go hand in hand. Who would imagine a world without Apple, Google, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric, General Motors, Ford etc. These companies drive the world today.
The data left my mouth open in wonder and amazement. And shocked too. Because in Britanicca’s list, we have only 1 Indian. Since I am a patriot, I felt jealous. So I read more to determine why are the success stories in US based on innovation. The answer was obvious - quality of education in the US. Education system in US a very well-organized system. It is controlled and funded at three levels - Federal, State and Local. And as soon as a child enters middle school in the 4th or 5th year, he/she is given option of choosing subjects based on his/her interest. The subject vary and every discipline is available for study. They have a comprehensive grading system ranging from D- to A+. Apart from this, there a lot of extra-curricular activities that students participate in. Attention is given to all round development. In short, it is a self-sustaining system. And even the college education in the US is world class - we all know it - Purdue, Yale, Harvard, MIT - these are dream destinations for students worldwide.
Compared to US, education in India is far behind. Though we are a very young nation compared to the US, (US gained independence in 1776 and India in 1947) and India has an education system that invites the envy of many countries - we can still do better. At the college and university level - we are almost there, with world class institutes like IIMs and IITs breeding a young talented pool of people every year. But we need to improve education at the grassroots level.
What I remember about my school years is - importance was given only to getting high marks in the examination. Learning subjects and writing on paper, I have never done any project in my school time - a harsh reality. Although the education system is changing in the recent times, I still see much focus given only to cramming up things and getting high marks. An above average student, with excellent marks throughout the school, and studied in IITs and IIMs is not capable of doing innovation. A world class job and business - yes, but innovation - no. India has not invented anything.
There is very low scope for R&D in India, every science student is opting for engineering (including me) - no one takes Sciences. The reason: our education system doesn’t encourage innovation. We are taught so that we can have a degree and earn money in life. So we follow those jobs which are demanded the most, with no respect for our aptitudes and interests. Our IT companies do nothing but outsourcing. We do the the less brainy jobs, all the intelligent decisions are taken in the US. What Indian Software Engineers do is that they substitute US engineers for a fraction of a cost so that they can be engaged in a more fruitful and demanding job - one that requires lot of ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking and innovation.
India needs to wake up to this reality. Encouraging innovations is the only way to be a world leader. We have missed out many things, it is time we board the train and don’t miss out the future. I am neither a US fan nor a India critic. All I am saying is that they have something which is better, which we need to think about.
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