

Can America keep its innovative edge? - troystribling
http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11482838

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ardit33
Give more Green Cards to smart people!!

Tottally self serving statement, but if I had a green card, I probably would
be doing something more inovative than what I am doing at my current job.

It is amazing the hoops that some people have to go thru, before being able to
fully utilize their capabilities for this country (and themselves).

This is the only country where a foreign, after living for few decades, can
get citizen ship AND can truly say they are "American" _. While a foreigner in
an european country, will always remain a foreigner, even they get the
citizenship, a second class citizen.

This simple but fundemental difference, is the one that will keep attracting
young bright people to come to this country. That is a huge competitive
advantage against other really well developed countries.

_Caveat: In the south, you will still remain and feel as a foreigner. But my
fully american brother-in-law born in Iowa, said, he felt an foreigner himself
when he travels to some part of USA

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makecheck
I agree...I feel quite shackled by the green card "process", which consists
largely of incomprehensibly lengthy delays. It doesn't make me feel valued at
all.

If I had it to do over, I would change this: get a PhD FIRST! If you educate
in your own country and then come to the U.S., you are put into this magic bin
that says you're better than everybody else, and 90% of the bull in the
process is removed.

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hugh
Really? Which magic bin is that? I've got a PhD from a foreign university and
I'd like to get a green card at some point in the future. (Haven't started
looking into it yet, still on a J1 visa.)

~~~
makecheck
One example is Outstanding Researcher (highest preference category) EB1-OR,
which can actually be filed in parallel with an application in a lower
preference category.

Technically a PhD isn't necessary, but you're almost certain to have a PhD if
you meet the actual requirements. If you have international recognition as
being outstanding in a field, or significant experience in teaching or
research, or you enter in a position of tenure at a university, you can
accelerate your green card application with EB1-OR.

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menloparkbum
The USA definitely needs to make it easier for sharp foreign-born people to
immigrate and work here. The public school system needs to be overhauled to
provide better science and engineering education. However, these have been
valid arguments for years - even before the 9/11 attacks and the rise of R&D
in China and India.

I always wonder when the Economist leaves out basic economics. The locations
in the USA where engineering, R&D and startup innovation are concentrated are
also the most expensive places to live.

25 years ago, a research scientist or engineer could make $60K and buy a house
in Livermore for $120K. Now, that same house is $1.2M but the salary for a
research scientist is still $60K. The immigrant researchers and engineers who
originally populated silicon valley now encourage their children to be
doctors, lawyers, or increasingly to go into finance (Economics is now #1
major for Smart People).

This can be fixed one of two ways: pay engineers and researchers more, or
build R&D centers in less expensive areas. Corporations are choosing the
second option. Unfortunately (for americans), the less expensive areas they
are moving R&D are located overseas.

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j2d2
America, at this point, only has an innovative edge. I believe this is the
reason IP is such a hot debate. How can we tell other nations to keep
worshiping us if they can simply take our ideas and manufacture their own
copies? We need to OWN the ideas so any "leeching" off America's creativity
can be monetized.

~~~
eugenejen
But as we know from HN. Idea is cheap and execution is most important part. So
does IP really matter?

You can go to China to get a copied iPhone running on Linux with software
written locally. But why do they copy iPhone instead of other phones? And why
don't we copy "new things" from China, Germany? Wait, do they have new thing
that we have not yet thought about?

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beaumac
What we dont need to innovation going is government involvement. What we do
need is less regulation in areas affecting innovation. Immigration reform to
let in highly skilled individuals (H1-B, etc), greater tax benefits for
seeking science degrees and entrepreneurship, and ease costs on starting
companies!

