One case where “Made in China” is good news for the U.S.?

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Andrew Leonard, in Salon:

If you're looking for examples of the downside of globalization, China offers them in abundance. China's low-cost workers are depressing wages for manufacturing employees all over the world. Its incredible appetite for raw materials and energy has warped commodity prices and raised fears of a global struggle for resources that could lead to the 21st century's defining showdown.

Now, China has moved into the semi-conductor/computer chip industry in a big way.

Andrew Leonard thinks this is a good thing. Read the article and decide for yourself.

Hint: Presently, China's present production capacity is one-seventh of its domestic demand for computer chips. And demand is growing faster than supply. Not only that, but China's production capacity is mostly at the lower end of the technology -- un-sophisticated chips. Powerhouses like Intel are doing the necessary R&D to produce chips at the cutting-edge, high-end.

Speaking of R&D, the semiconductor industry is one of the few in this country that HAS continued to spend on research and development. Andrew Leonard points out that it is what has left the industry in a strong position globally.

So what about other domestic industries -- which ones could or should be spending on R & D? Leonard identifies three (nanotechnology, biotech and/or alternative energy) and asks whether it might or might not be a good idea for the US government to plow some money into R&D. Like, now. The Chinese government would and probably will, at it's first opportunity.

"The U.S. economy should focus more on developing cutting-edge technology and investing in science and engineering, getting universities on track, and worry less about the world catching up," says Amir Sharif, a product manager at Cisco Systems, who co-organized and led a tour of China for venture capitalists in 2004.

"Because the rest of the world is catching up, and that's a good thing. The competition is not us against the Chinese. It is a symbiosis; the more we advance our own technology and the more we depend on our partners, the more we can promote a peaceful coexistence."

Lots to consider in the article. Read it, if you fancy yourself a futurist figuring out our place in the world (and our children's place) in the 21st century.