Joel Kotkin, Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California and a recognized authority on global, economic and political trends, has written an interesting assessment on the financial crisis.
He argues that what is needed now is not a revolution against capitalism but a shift in emphasis back to the basics such as manufacturing, basic infrastructure and training critical skilled workers that a ‘real’ economy needs to encourage entrepreneurism and long term growth.
About California, Kotkin writes:
“California’s once envied water-delivery systems, roadways, airports, and education facilities are in serious disrepair. In the 1960s, infrastructure spending accounted for 20 percent of all state outlays, but as the technocratic perspective took hold in Sacramento, infrastructure spending fell to just three percent of all expenditures, despite the rapid growth of the state’s population.”
Read Kotkin’s piece on how America can grapple with the financial thicket here.