Economic protectionism, the mandate that strangely ties the likes of John Kerry, Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot together, suggests that in order to protect jobs in America, the government should put up barriers to free trade that give "advantage" to the American worker over others. If implemented, a protectionist policy will have a profoundly negative effect on high-tech start-ups, entrepreneurialism and innovation.
Wlliam Gurley says that are seven reasons why Silicon Valley should be very alarmed over protectionism:- A.Protectionism will hurt the overall economy. B.Start-ups don't collect subsidies. C.Diversity is critical to start-up success. D.Start-ups are increasingly global at an early age. E.The critical emerging markets are outside the United States F.It is equivalent to taking a step backward. G.Protectionism is inconsistent with the entrepreneurial mind-set. William gurley concludes by saying that What many in America may miss is that the rest of the world will go on without us. Over the past 30 years, the key market for technology products was obviously the United States. Start-ups in Europe, Israel and Asia would develop their products at home but quickly shift the focus to the United States, when the time came for marketing and sales. This is no longer the case. In many instances, Europe and Asia are quickly becoming the enviable markets. What's more, as recently noted in The New York Times, "Foreign advances in basic science now often rival or even exceed America's, apparently with little public awareness of the trend or its implications for jobs." If America closes its borders, resourceful entrepreneurs in Europe and Asia will cheerfully step in and generate tomorrow's leading break-through companies. |
Sadagopan's Weblog on Emerging Technologies, Trends,Thoughts, Ideas & Cyberworld "All views expressed are my personal views are not related in any way to my employer"
