There exists currently a growing sense in many quarters that the United States is losing its competitiveness on the world stage. There are a number of lines of evidence supporting this contention; I will use only one such line, hoping that it will be sufficient for our purposes today.

Recently the U.S. Council on Competitiveness in partnership with Gallup, Inc. collected and reported data which demonstrates a downward trend in American productivity measured as real GDP per capita. This trend has been ongoing for fifty years, essentially since the close of World War II, a synchrony not without significance.

The American Dream and American Competitiveness are inextricably interwoven. The narrative of infinite progress, of the sky being the limit, both elements integral to the American Dream, are consistent with, indeed derivative of, the presupposition of American Competitiveness and inconsistent with a stultified culture.

Nevertheless, there is growing evidence that American competitiveness is stalled. Moreover, there appears to be a small but growing segment of our society which sees this pause in competitiveness as salutatory, and that American competitiveness is not only unwarranted but also reprehensible.

Speaker / Author

Lloyd A. Jacobs, MD

President Emeritus, The University of Toledo

Lloyd A. Jacobs, MD stepped away from his position as President of the University of Toledo in 2014, after having led a vigorous process of growth and transformation to establish a new vision, a new identity, and a new level of educational, research, and clinical health services quality and excellence.  Dr. Jacobs began his appointment as UT’s 16^th president in 2006, when the former Medical University of Ohio, of which he was President / CEO, and UT merged, and he was selected to lead the newly merged university. A strategic plan entitled Directions 2011 was approved unanimously by the Board of ... Read More