Reinventing America

Reinventing America

Posted on January 23, 2009 by Michael Tchong in Politics

America faces serious challenges to maintain its storied status quo. Hurdles include a sinking economy, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the rising cost of education, global warming, a crumbling infrastructure and American workers with uncertain futures.

Trendwatchers are more acutely aware of these issues than most, but they’re also more hopeful. They recognize that these challenges can be overcome through creativity, innovation and deft planning. To accomplish this, the groundwork has to be laid in 2009, it can be postponed no longer.

Yesterday, Barack Obama became America’s 44th President. He was swept into power on a “change you can believe in” platform. For the U.S. and the rest of the world, change could not have arrived quickly enough.

We have reluctantly remained sidelined as events transpired but we believe the time to act is now. To that end, we submit for consideration the following platform for change, one that could define a visionary administration.

What follows are thought-starters, tangible beginnings designed to spark serious dialog and meaningful action. Please forward this innovation platform to at least one other person you know, so that they may join the conversation.

It’s in everyone’s interest to help reinvent America.

Sincerely,

signature

Michael Tchong
Trend Analyst & Founder

P.S. Many thanks to John Evan Frook for contributing his superb insights and editorial acumen to this effort.

Reinventing Virtues and Values

The first part of this platform deals with qualitative issues that have contributed to the current situation. While not easily solvable, a comprehensive solution to America’s challenges require they be addressed in some shape or form. These influences concern traditionally core values of American society. To ignore them is to produce superficial reform instead of a true reinvention.

Truth is the U.S. is consumed by a palpable lack of ethical leadership. From Houston’s Enron to New York lawyer Marc Dreier to investment banker Bernard Madoff to Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, plus countless other business scams and political scandals, America’s reputation is being tarnished by a growing erosion in ethics.

And it is not just business and political deception. Consumer fraud has hit record levels with an estimated 30.2 million American victims of fraud in 2007, about 13.5% of the adult population.

To address these issues, we recommend placing a greater emphasis on a few basic virtues and values through a series of concrete policies aimed at encouraging transparency, simplicity and frugality. Impossible you say? Not now that everyone realizes profound change is needed. And change starts at the top. So Washington, lead the way.

Transparency

If anything, this year’s global crisis clearly shows what happens when society lacks transparency. The rising chorus for more transparency is usually heard after a major catastrophe. Heavy investor losses in 2000-2002, accentuated by the $60 billion lost by Enron’s shareholders, led to the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) act of 2002.

While its reporting requirements have been called “unnecessary and costly,” SOX was enacted to force more transparency. And the key word here is “force.” Creatively thinking, the solution lies in encouraging corporate entities to be more transparent by nature, a goal that should also be at the top of any administrative agenda.

Consumers benefit greatly from more corporate transparency. Currently, companies rely on “customer retention techniques” to make it impossible to cancel a service, or practice other dubious ethical behavior in the name of boosting profits.

A number of initiatives and organizations have been established that address this growing need for more transparency, from “Radical Transparency” to the Platform for Transparency. Better education and more transparency in Washington politics are the recommended solutions for leading America out of this virtuous quagmire.

Recommendations

Ethics education – Begin reforming America’s school curriculum by including courses on ethics and business manners. It may seem obvious but a gradual improvement in our society can only come from repeated exposure to messages that reinforce appropriate behavior.

Transparency platform – We recommend that the U.S. establish guidelines for organizational transparency. This transparency platform would include specific recommendations for both for-profit and non-profit organizations and government bodies. Greater transparency in the nation’s capital will lead America by example.

WhiteHouse.gov

President Obama promised that his administration would be more transparent. The administration’s transparency policy is now available at WhiteHouse.gov.

Frugality

Perhaps frugality is too strong a word. The Dutch have another term for it, “nuchter” or “sober.” America clearly needs to develop a more sober attitude toward its financial affairs, a point underscored by the current crisis, which has its roots in a “put it on plastic” mentality that pervades society.

The results are alarming. The typical household now has about 11 credit cards and owes $11,211 in card debt, according to CardTrak.com. Among college seniors who carry balances, the average debt is $2,623, an early addiction that’s being fueled by cozy bank relationships with colleges.

The “charge” mentality spilled over into real-estate, where easy loans and careless bankers led Americans to borrow a staggering $10.5 trillion to fund their real-estate lust as of 2007, up from $4.8 trillion just seven years earlier.

Today, Americans carry $2.6 trillion in consumer debt, up 22% since 2000 alone, according to the Federal Reserve Board. It all starts in college, with the average student emerging with $20,000 in educational debt, a figure that has more than doubled since 1995.

By contrast, the nation’s savings rate, which exceeded 8% of disposable income in 1968, had declined to 0.4% by the end of the first quarter of 2008, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

To help them pay off their mounting credit card bills, Americans took out $1.1 trillion in home equity loans, confident that the value of their homes would rise forever.

But as Zillow.com reported on December 15, U.S. homes lost well over $2 trillion in value during 2008, leaving approximately 11.7 million American households owing more on their mortgage than their homes are worth.

So, how do we stem this red tide? The shrinking economy has certainly reined in the most egregrious practices, but to avoid a future repeat, the U.S. government, together with the private sector, will have to encourage more judicious borrowing practices among homeowners, students and corporate executives.

“More judicious” because we realize that in an economy where consumer spending makes up 70% of all economic activity, it will be difficult to put the brakes on all spending. Yet, as history has shown, even simple tax-code adjustments, like the $500,000 capital gains exemption from any home sale enacted by President Clinton, can have a far-reaching impact.

The real estate flame was further fanned by the Bush administration, who pushed hard to expand homeownership, especially among minorities. The Obama administration has a chance to squelch those flames with meaningful, compassionate and level-headed steps aimed at stabilizing the destabilized.

It’s clear that creative thinking will be required to help reverse this trend. But every small effort helps, specifically improved education plus a concerted effort aimed at reducing our growing deficit.

Recommendations

Financial training – Once again, our educational system will have to encourage better money management. The trend has already started to take hold. Marketing campaigns like ING’s “we the savers” effort should have a positive benefit.

Reduce the U.S. deficit – Next year, the U.S. will issue $2 trillion in debt, which will test the world’s appetite for financing U.S. government spending. America needs to begin reducing its deficit by following other recommendations provided in this innovation platform. Consumers cannot be expected to become savvy about money, while Uncle Sam continues to spend like a drunken sailor.

Thrift Week

At Templeton Press, Editor-in-Chief Susan Arellano is spearheading an effort to bring back thriftiness with Thrift Week (January 17-24). Says Arellano ruefully: “Some Americans can’t even remember the concept of thrift itself.”

Simplicity

Daniel Pink, author of “A Whole New Mind,” frequently asks his audiences if they have a “mini-storage” locker. After many hands shoot up, he asks one audience member if they can tell what they have in that storage unit, and sheepishly most admit it’s just “stuff.” No wonder the mini storage business is booming.

Our world is inundated with stuff. And the toll of all this stuff on the environment was well documented by Annie Leonard. So from a macro perspective, the global slowdown is having a positive effect on the accumulation of stuff. And therein lies a virtue worth preserving.

We advocate simplification in all walks of life. We need simplicity at home, at work and in our personal relationships. We may not achieve all our objectives but if there’s a will, we will find a way.

Simplicity means companies should no longer inundate us with 72 different TV sets, as Samsung just did at CES, when half that amount will do. A reduced inventory will not only have a positive impact on the environment but simplify the lives of already overwhelmed consumers.

The enemy of simplicity is complexity. Complex financial instruments, called collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), were chiefly responsible for the financial meltdown. Of course the CDOs were very opaque in nature and far from transparent.

We suggest that as part of this platform, simplicity be promoted as a virtue to help boost overall efficiency and productivity. It’s a recurring theme throughout this innovation platform.

Recommendations

Simplify industry – Amazon.com is spearheading an effort to encourage manufacturers such as Mattel, Microsoft and Sony to simplify their packaging, thereby avoiding “wrap rage” and the 6,000 injuries caused by opening consumer unfriendly plastic packaging. We see groundbreaking initiatives like this as a productive trend. It may not be what Frank Lloyd Wright had in mind when he said “less is more,” but no one could have said it better.
Streamline government – Simplifying government should be a top priority. The reasons are myriad. Simplicity will improve productivity, thereby saving taxpayers money. A streamlined government will also result in a productivity boost among its citizenry. Simplification can be achieved by encouraging civil servants to suggest ways to reduce bureaucracy. And once again, taking a leadership position in the effort to simplify will lead to ripple effects throughout society.

Reinvent Education

Before addressing today’s challenges, we must recognize that America’s future depends mostly on quality of education. We have a moral obligation to ensure that our children have the best education possible, especially given the growing trend of global competition.

There’s no question that the U.S. is falling behind in critical professions, including the disciplines of engineering and science, which are essential for a technology-imbued future.

A Duke University study, released in December 2005, found that 137,437 computer science and information technology engineering degrees were awarded by four-year schools in the U.S. That compares to 351,537 for China and 112,000 for India.

As society moves into the robotic age, America will need a large number of mechanical engineers for a market that is forecast to reach grow to between $30 billion and $50 billion by 2013. Yet, in 2006 only 16,063 undergrad degrees were awarded in this promising science in the U.S.

But direction is just part of the problem. America’s educational system is in dire need of a major overhaul to ensure that future generations will remain competitive in a world that’s rapidly gaining clout. And throwing more money at it is not the solution.

Since 1971, spending on education has increased more than 100%, yet national graduation rates and achievement scores are flat. More money hasn’t helped American kids, nor has it made them more fluent in languages other than English or more technically adept, two areas where our new graduates are most lacking.

A story produced by 20/20’s John Stossel, called appropriately enough “Stupid in America,” found that the longer kids stay in U.S. schools, the worse they do in global competition. U.S. students taking an international test at age 10 score well above the international average. But by age 15, when students from 40 countries are tested, Americans place 25th.

In fact, U.S. matriculated students do worse than kids from poorer countries that spend much less money on education, like Belgium, Poland, the Czech Republic and South Korea, according to Stossel’s research.

The reason are many, but fundamentally the U.S. educational system is a government monopoly dominated by a powerful union. That explains why charter schools, which typically spend thousands of dollars less per student outscore public schools.

Ben Chavis, a former public school principal who now runs an alternative charter school in Oakland, Calif., saves money by asking students to keep the grounds clean and to arrange their own lunch.

This means there’s more money left over for teaching so Chavis can pay his teachers more than what public school teachers earn. Not an inconsequential benefit given the $527 billion that America spent on public schools in 2006.

It’s therefore imperative that the U.S. redouble efforts to vastly improve its educational system. A visionary presidency would privatize the educational system, so that teachers can be rewarded on a performance basis.

Recommendation

Privatize education – Eliminating the education monopoly will allow the U.S. to significantly improve its educational system. Offering teachers the ability to earn more via performance incentives would also serve to attract some of the brightest minds to the field of education, bringing much-needed innovation to America’s educational agenda. Since a typical marginal savings rate of a K-3 student transferring to a charter school is $3,856, according to the Palo Alto Unified School District, multiplying that with 49.1 million public school students would result in $189 billion in savings.

Innovate Healthcare

Now that we’ve taken care of the young, let’s focus on our elders. Aging Baby Boomers plus a growing dependence on healthcare will seriously strain America’s health and wellness infrastructure in the very near future.

The facts speak for themselves. By 2017, consumers and taxpayers will spend more than $4 trillion on healthcare, accounting for one of every $5 spent, the federal government projects.

These staggering costs must be mitigated in creative ways, lest we spend our way into oblivion. One cost-effective solution is to prevent health problems in the first place, and that requires universal health insurance.

While the number of Americans who lack health insurance fell for the first time in 2007, the number of uninsured stands at a staggering 46 million, or 15% of the U.S. population. And according to a September 2006 USA Today poll, 56% of Americans say they prefer universal health coverage.

All Americans, especially the 253 million who are insured, deserve a more effective healthcare system. Studies of autopsies found that doctors seriously misdiagnose fatal illnesses about 20% of the time. Even more astonishing, that rate has not really changed since the 1930s.

Many ideas have been proposed that seek to boost the effectiveness of healthcare. A visionary presidency would overcome this hurdle with great determination because a major effort and commitment on the part of U.S. government and private industry is required to get a national health insurance program off the ground.

Recommendations

Open healthcare to competition – Harvard Business School Professor Regina Herzlinger believes healthcare should be run like the retail sector. If hospitals, insurers and doctors had to compete on the open market for patient-customers, innovation would flourish, prices would decline and quality would improve. Under Herzlinger’s plan, everyone would be required to buy health insurance. Consumers would be able to tailor their own healthcare coverage using a national health insurance market. The federal government would insure price and coverage fairness and provide a national database containing prices and outcomes for procedures at every hospital and clinic, so consumers could make informed decisions.
Healthcare reform – Medco Health Solutions CEO David Snow has introduced a pragmatic program to reduce healthcare costs. Snow’s five-point plan includes wiring healthcare, eliminating medical liability through protocol-driven medicine, addressing Medicare’s financial fundamentals, increasing compliance, while reducing errors; and promoting healthy lifestyles. This plan could save as much as $1 trillion in healthcare costs. From fixing Medicare to trimming America’s collective waistline (see below), Snow advocates tough choices to tackle controversial issues, thereby challenging government, the private sector, patients, physicians and payors to become actively engaged and accountable for improving both clinical and financial outcomes.
Anti-obesity campaign – Fully 34% of Americans are obese, more than the 33% who are overweight, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The cost to America’s healthcare system is estimated at north of $100 billion. And those costs will only mount as obese and overweight Americans age. And that cost does not include the lost productivity due to the inevitable lethargy introduced by carrying more weight than necessary. To fight this problem, the U.S. government should use a multi-pronged campaign to fight the overfeeding of America. The first step should be to follow New York state by requiring that calories for all restaurant menu items be listed on menus. Again, a national education campaign is necessary to alert Americans that like smoking, overeating is unhealthy. Finally, it’s recommended that America institute a “fat tax” of 10% on fast food, the leading cause for weight gain. This would raise about $10 billion in tax revenue, which can be used to further promote its anti-obesity plan among the 24% of Americans who are currently dieting and the 43% who should be.

No supersize

Overfeeding America adds more than $100 billion to U.S. healthcare costs, which has led to creative, new countermeasures, such as New York’s calorie-counting menus. Recommendation: Have consumers say no to the super-sized hamburger.

Note: Dr. Sam Online reports that most electronic health record systems are too difficult to use or expensive for the typical doctor. His recommendation: the U.S. government should make its AHLTA, which stands for “Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application” system, available for free to the civilian world. Sometimes, the government can outdo the private sector. Great idea, Dr. Sam!

Note: Richard Simmons opposes any taxes on fast foods or sugary foods. His viewpoint is that we need to encourage Americans to exercise more! Simmons has embarked on a Fit Kids crusade that has a multi-faceted action plan. We support Simmons’ plan and will integrate his ideas into this innovation platform.

Boost America’s Technology Prowess

We’re delighted to hear that President-Elect Obama plans to name a “Chief Technology Officer, “to ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century.”

To us that sounds almost too soft. Let’s put it bluntly: technology is the growth engine of America. And the U.S. must be put on a steroids technology diet immediately.

When the Internet began to flourish in 1995, U.S. productivity grew at annual rate of 2.5%, compared to just 1.4% a year in the 70s and 80s. Today, it stands at 1.7%. Clearly, the economy needs another big shot in the arm, much like the Internet boom provided.

Obama says “America should lead the world in broadband penetration and Internet access.” True, America today ranks just 12th when it comes to broadband penetration, according to a June 2006 ranking by the OECD.

According to Connected Nation, a 7% increase in U.S. broadband adoption would have an annual economic impact of $134 billion, creating 2.4 million jobs across the U.S. This move could potentially save as much as $662 million in health-care costs and $6.4 billion in vehicle mileage, among other savings, according to the study.

While we wholeheartedly agree that pervasive use provides major benefits, our bigger concern is that the U.S. is falling behind in broadband speed.

While we don’t advocate matching Japan’s 100Mbps top download speed, we feel the U.S.’ broadband infrastructure should be upgraded to a minimum of 8Mbps, preferably faster. Put simply, if the average download speed in Japan is 8Mbps and ours is 1.5, they can move data 5.3 times faster than we can.

It would be even better if the upgrade prepares America for Internet2, which, if established in the U.S. ahead of the rest of the world, would dramatically change the rules in an information-driven economy.

But pumping up America’s broadband speed is just one facet of our platform. The next step is to pro-actively revive our technology industry. Today, Silicon Valley is but a shadow of its former self.

Sure, Google is valued by investors at $94 billion, Apple at $73 billion. But America’s technology industry can’t just be fueled by Apple and Google. America needs 1,000 Apples and Googles.

And it can accomplish that with transformational leadership. According to a Nov. 3, 2005 Wall Street Journal article, the global money supply ready to invest in the next YouTube is estimated at north of $3 trillion (PDF).

We commend President-elect Obama for his technology insight. We think that with the right leadership, this country can make its technology sector, and that includes Obama’s support for alternative energy sources, thrive. We look forward to ushering in a whole new age of technology-propelled prosperity.

The biggest obstacle has been finding the right ideas to invest in and that requires market catalysts, so we propose creating our own investment storms by supporting the following two initiatives.

Recommendation

Smartcard ID system – The Federal government requires that states improve their driver’s licenses to bolster airport security. But why stop there? Why not provide both security and convenience? In a world where multi-functional products are on the upswing because they simplify life, why not provide U.S. citizens with a simple solution for travel, health and security benefits? While the debate continues over the merits of a national ID system, the driver’s license issue only underscores the need for a superior identification system that uses an advanced smart chip to optionally store consumer health information and other important data. Such a trendsetting move would not only be welcomed by both consumers and security officials, but it would help kick-start a huge cottage-farm industry to support such a daring initiative. The smartcard ID would let Americans store health, driving and any other desired information on their cards and customize security levels to allow personal data to be easily shared on demand while maintaining maximum privacy. A smartcard ID would not only make travel or visits to health facilities far more convenient but it would also position America as a forward-looking country that resolutely addresses its population’s most urgent safety and lifestyle requirements.
Electronic voting – A stated goal of a visionary presidency platform ought to include this promise: the presidential campaign of 2016 will be conducted via the Internet, from debate to final vote. That ambitious goal should be combined with the smartcard ID proposed above, to create a simple, secure system that allows American voters to easily, quickly and conveniently participate in all government decisions. This massively collaborative approach would harness one of the Internet’s most implicit promises – providing a workable system that efficiently and fairly provides learned access to all government decisions, big or small. A visionary presidency would also decree that all U.S. government paperwork, applications and processes be completely online by 2012, a move that would provide yet another impetus for future growth. The intensive application of technology in government would have an immediate positive benefit: it would materially boost government productivity while helping reduce the size of our governing body, thereby producing enough cost savings to pay for these two proposals. History has shown that the skillful use of technology can provide quantifiable cost savings in the private sector. The U.S. government ought to benefit from the same principles.

Note: The $20 million Lunar X Prize has received much acclaim for fostering innovation. What the technology industry needs is a $20 milion “iPrize.”

Prioritize Social Welfare

It’s disheartening to walk around some of America’s largest cities and observe a crumbling infrastructure, homeless people and other signs of despair that simply should not be part of the U.S. landscape.

But the very sound of the word “welfare” makes taxpayers cringe. And truth is, despite spending $9 trillion on welfare since Lyndon Johnson declared a “War on Poverty” in 1964, the poverty rate remains largely unchanged from more than 40 years ago.

The federal government spent more than $477 billion on some 50 different programs to fight poverty in 2005, yet despite these outlays, 37 million Americans continue to be poor.

We don’t need to hand out more money. We just need to make sure that taxpayer contributions are more effectively spent. That requires an innovative assault on the core problem, plus greater transparency. Where does all our money go? And how can we make sure it is better-spent?

There’s no logical reason why such a progressive country as America has to have a backward approach when it comes to its poor and uninsured. A tactical program aimed at the reconstruction and renewal of inner cities that also provides education and job training for the poor and experientially-challenged clamors to be a high priority. We have been sweeping these problems under a rug for too long, and we can no longer afford to do so.

How will we pay for these bold initiatives? By following Robert Feinman’s recommendations:

Recommendations

Crime – A recent study puts the direct costs of crime at $105 billion. When pain and reduced quality of life are included the figure rises to $450 billion. These figures do not include savings from needing a smaller police force; judicial and prison system. In fact, the Pew Center reported in March that the 50 states spent more than $49 billion on corrections in 2007, up from less than $11 billion 20 years earlier. The prison cost rate of increase was six times greater than spending on higher education.
Healthcare – Economic losses due to under-insurance caused by poverty range from $65 to $130 billion. Reduced productivity due to health issues costs an additional $87 to $126 billion. However, the economic value of a diminished quality of life due to ill health was not included in this report.

And at the upper end of the spectrum, we need to address America’s happiness gap. As author Dan Pink points out in A Whole New Mind, Americans have much more “stuff” – acquired consumer wealth – than ever before, yet are no happier, if not less happier than ever before. This phenomenon even has a name, “affluenza.”

Polls show that Americans are no happier today than they were 50 years ago despite significant increases in prosperity, decreases in crime, cleaner air, larger living quarters and a better overall quality of life. According to the National Opinion Research Center, the percentage of the U.S. population saying it was “very happy” in 1972 was exactly the same as it was in 2002: 30.3% (The Wall Street Journal 08-Dec-05).

America needs a visionary, yet compassionate leader. One with the willpower to lead this country of its growing morass of disconnectedness and return the U.S.A. to its former glory. And, please, no political hocus pocus. The masses will not be fooled again.

Note: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce estimates that the decaying transportation system annually costs the American economy $63 billion in lost time and fuel.

Support Commerce

America has become the world’s largest economy due to an unerring belief in the principles of free commerce. In 2007, the U.S.’ gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated as $13.8 trillion, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Commerce is key to the future of America. It provides jobs for the lionshare of the U.S. workforce, which stands at an all time high of 143 million employed workers, despite a loss of 2.6 million jobs in 2008.

As America has steadily shifted away from a manufacturing base to an information-driven economy, the make-up and character of the American workforce has changed markedly. Today, 13.1 million Americans are employed in manufacturing. This figure is down from 17.4 million in 2000.

Fifty years ago, one third of U.S. employees worked in factories, making everything from cars to lipstick. Today the share of workers employed in U.S. manufacturing has declined to 9%. As a result, the workforce is increasingly employed in healthcare, business services and education.

These trends will only accelerate in the near future, requiring a major workforce retraining effort to ensure that America has the skilled workers required for an increasingly service-oriented economy.

While this platform contains many proposals that will lift the overall economy and create new jobs, America needs to make sure it remains highly competitive in an increasingly e-commerce-driven world. When the two ideas changes proposed below are implemented, America will be ready to show the world’s 130 million businesses listed in the D&B database what it takes to compete in a new age.

Recommendations

Boost small business incentives – Small business has been the growth engine that powered America out of seven successive recessions. There’s no question that from the creative minds of America’s 23.3 million small business firms, often run from home, the next Apple, Google or McDonald’s will emerge. The U.S. government needs to establish an ambitious effort to help boost America’s entrepreneurial instincts by creating a well-thought-out program to help start-ups with their most crucial needs. This program should be given a catchy moniker, perhaps “Start-Up America!,” and harness all the expertise that America’s retiring boomers can provide its daring young entrepreneurs. It should also provide an easy process for applying for small business loans, a more mission-critical aspect now that the U.S.’ new bankruptcy code has made it difficult for many entrepreneurs to risk using personal credit cards to fund a start-up. More than three-quarters (78%) of small business owners planned to use charge or credit cards to pay for business expenses in October 2004, according to an American Express survey. And since 55% of small businesses fail in the first five years, according to Case Western Reserve University, entrepreneurs need all the help then can get.
Adopt the metric system – Oh sure, Jimmy Carter expressed a passing interest in switching to the metric system way back in 1976. But instead of setting a hard deadline, which could have been reached today, America continues to lead the global economy while laboring under an inefficient and antiquated imperial measuring system, which even the British and Canadians have given up on. Why change? Not only will it make it easier for future Americans to work with a decimal system but it would also make many more U.S. products instantly compatible with the rest of the world, providing more efficient global marketing. Given that exports last year accounted for 12% of U.S. gross domestic product, and most of the world’s consumers live outside the U.S., it’s easy to see how this would benefit America. Besides, the genesis behind a metric switch is the same as that of the smartcard ID: it creates a whirlwind of opportunity to refresh the nation’s manufacturing processes as equipment and tools are upgraded to suit the metric system. To enjoy the fruits of this initiative in our own lifetime, a visionary presidency would set 2020, the year of perfect vision, as the year America begins to converts to metrics, and it can be phased in over a 10-year period to make adoption seamless by 2030.

Simplify Government

Last fall something remarkable happened. The national debt clock, the unofficial tracker of the federal deficit maintained by the Durst Organization in New York, ran out of digits as the national debt surged above the $10 trillion mark for the very first time.

The 2009 budget deficit is currently estimated at $1.2 trillion, but is sure to reach much higher. And that’s over and above the $4 trillion the Bush administration already added to America’s credit-card tab. Many news analysts have started to joke that in the current climate, “what’s another $100 billion?”

But that kind of thinking is disastrous long-term. Our red-ink drenched budget only reinforces the fact that America needs to aggressively pursue a strategy of reinvention, or face even more insurmountable problems in the very near future.

And that change starts with government. Americans want reduced bureaucracy, less complexity, more transparency and superior oversight of spending programs, starting with the elimination of “pork.”

We’re pleased that President-elect Obama has promised that there will be no earmarks in his stimulus program, yet the fact remains that the U.S. government is bedeviled by special interests. According to the Citizens Against Government Waste, a staggering 11,610 “pork” projects at a cost of $17.2 billion found their way in fiscal 2008 appropriations alone.

The opaque world of special-interest lobbyists and influence peddling has materially contributed to such shocking losses as the $60 billion Enron debacle and the $50 billion Bernard Madoff swindle. In that rarified atmosphere of outsize chicanery, the discovery that the U.S. government paid Halliburton $800 for a hammer may seem benign, but it’s emblematic of a larger problem.

So, a key premise of this innovation platform is the simplification of government. The goal is to streamline operations to save time and effort, while improving customer service and reducing paperwork. Here are a few concrete steps that can be taken to reduce waste and encourage more governing transparency.

Recommendations

Webify government – We have already recommended under another rubric that the U.S. government should move all paperwork, applications and processes completely online by 2012, a strategic move that would simplify data acquisition and distribution. San Francisco’s online dog licensing process is a good example of how government can serve its citizenry conveniently and seamlessly. Surveys suggest that organizations spend about 10% of their budget on printed materials. Given that the 2009 U.S. budget is $3.1 trillion, the U.S. government could save about $300 billion by adopting an all-electronic policy.
Standardize data collection – The government’s webification presents another opportunity to simplify America: the standardization of data collection. We propose that the U.S. government take a pro-active role in setting standards for the collection of data types, which together with emerging Web-based data standards would lead to a simplified “GUI” (graphics user interface) across the Internet. By adhering to government designed data collection standards, the U.S. would save tens of billions of dollars each year, while making data stores among government agencies more easily sharable, further reducing data storage costs.
Simplify revenue generation – There’s no more hopelessly complex and broken system than America’s tax collection process. A simplified tax system is the best way for the U.S. government to raise the revenues it needs, a task that would also be made more effective through the suggested technology infusion. Tax reform schemes have been floated in the past, with little success. But there’s no question that America’s labyrinth, special-interest-riddled tax code is in dire need of a complete overhaul. And as the market valuations of Apple and Google prove, there’s a quantifiable value that can be put on simplicity. America needs to eliminate all special-interest deductions and institute a tax code that is fair to all citizens, particularly America’s middle-class, which is shouldering the inordinate burden of our outsize budget deficits. The U.S. needs to balance its budget, because its deficits are simply unsustainable. Under a simplified tax system, filing income taxes would become less stressful for most Americans, while saving tax payers as much as $200 billion annually, and significantly boosting revenue collection efforts through the elimination of thousands of tax loopholes.

We stand at the dawning of a new era. One in which greater self-determination will be required to ensure that our future will bring peace, prosperity and personal well-being. This platform may well seem daunting, but wherever there’s a problem, there’s an opportunity.

The first step is to recognize that we have to do something about the future of America. There’s no other country in this world that has achieved what the America has. And we see no reason why we cannot thrive yet again. But you will have to join the conversation. Driven by our collective participation, change is sure to come to the U.S.

So, let’s reinvent America now.

Cost savings

Above is a conservative, baseline estimate of the potential cost savings that this Reinventing America platform would represent. The $1.3 trillion saved would entirely offset the current budget deficit, while providing a $100 billion surplus.

Note: Since President-elect Obama has announced plans to appoint the first U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Intel is trying to get out the tech vote. Intel CTO Justin Rattner wants techies to have a voice in how the new CTO steers policy.

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11 Responses to “Reinventing America”

  1. Tony Winders

    January 15, 2009

    Real change won’t come to America without hard work and ingenuity and I am inspired to see it happening from the ground up — this is a great use of the trendsetting minds within Ubercool’s spheres of influence. How can I help?

    Tony Winders

  2. Susan Bratton

    January 15, 2009

    Michael,
    You’ve documented the biggest issues all in one place AND provided a tremendous amount of well-researched data too.

    Now how do we support you in getting this message to Washington and supporting our politicians to implement some of these ideas?

    Susan Bratton

  3. Kimberly @ Current Events Blog

    January 16, 2009

    This was a fantastic read! (every word of it!)

    Wow, Michael, you did so much research and presented it to everyone so simplistically that we all can understand!

    I agree with everything you have said.

    Actually, I am not an American, but am married to one. I am Canadian, and believe me, not a day goes by that I don’t thank God we have socialized medicine here. It is a true Godsend. My husband completely agrees!

    The only thing you didn’t comment on was the Environment, and I believe that to be a central issue to our survival! Making our society more paperless will great reduce our waste and natural resources that aren’t being regenerated.

    Alternative energy sources that you mentioned is another key to our environmental survival and millions upon millions of dollars saved!

    Fabulous, fabulous platform! Thank you! I am sharing it on our blog!

    Kimberly :)

  4. Dan Beyer

    January 17, 2009

    GREAT TREATISE Michael, as far as it goes…

    ……….I am afraid that the era of the $100 Trillion note is upon us. Mass corruption and pervasive greed may have already done incomprehensible damage……Is society self iterative and doomed to repeat mistakes? .

    The economic incentives inherent in Democratic Capitalism contain the seeds of its own destruction. As proof simply look at the American march towards Socialism. Ethically undereducated people cannot be trusted. How many animals will eat themselves into oblivion? After generations of viewing “Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous” and descendants like MTV “Cribs” and other offspring such as the “Fabulous Life Of” type programming , achieving FAME is now the primary goal of a majority of young Americans.

    My High School education did not even include instruction on how to balance a checkbook. Also absent was any instruction whatsoever on morality and ethics. What was covertly implied and thus encouraged was a march towards rampant materialism which we can now see leads to massive and unsustainable consumption. What the super wealthy can and do afford is killing the rest of us. We must put an end to the unfettered and misdirected corrupt media programming that misdirects society and we must make efforts to repair the resultant Bling Generation and help them evolve and embrace a condition that I can only refer to as “The New Modesty” !

    A new better designed and more efficient yet downsized lifestyle encompassing more comfortable necessity and less useless waste needs to be universally promoted. Do we actually need FRED water? Do we need products that are nothing more than disposable tchotchkas?

    I can’t wait to see where the unwinding of the global post WWII economy stops. It is at that point perhaps 3 or 4 years from now that the New Modest Society can begin….

  5. Howard Gibson

    January 18, 2009

    This platform smells of fascism. Any attempt to get financial “savings” under conditions of a disintegrated financial system will lead to classifying more and more Americans as useless eaters.

    How about going to back to the real American system of people like Franklin Roosevelt. Let’s have a total bankruptcy reorganization of the financial system and issue new credit for production. Have a New Bretton Woods Conference to make stable exchange rates and an end to currency and other speculation. That would be a good start for Obama.

  6. amiable amy

    January 18, 2009

    You made so much clever points and I am just hoping that Obama Administration will heed your Voice , actually our Voices. God bless America.

  7. Sylvia Paull

    January 19, 2009

    You will never get this country to adopt the metric system until you first reform the education system, and that will take a generation.

    These are good starting points, but what about culture, or lack thereof?

  8. Darryl Crawford

    January 28, 2009

    Michael,

    It’s an impressive platform and needs to be heard by those who have a direct impact on the type of decision making you call for. My recommendation is to distribute it directly to each state legislature member with a call for action. I have included a link to access the emails of the California body. You can easily access other states as well. http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html

    Regards,

    Darryl

  9. Rajesh

    February 26, 2009

    Michael
    Your concern is the only thing which is touching.
    but please forgive ..ur solutions are not..
    instances.
    simplify and webification are quite the opps & they r used synonimically
    simplify and super specialization of education too run in opps direction perhaps

    always with you
    rajesh

  10. ShonkaiDJ

    April 2, 2009

    Vey interesting to read some of your ideas
    The hearts and minds of just a few of all you US citizen.

    Why did this stop a month ago?
    Am I missing a link Michael?

    I gues the thread would get too long if most would respond. But it is time that U guys started to understand What Obama really said about how the world has always looked at the US. Even before TV as a medium.

    It was never about the money. It was about freedom and picking up the challenge. That, I think has been culture for a couple of hundred years in the new world.

    The whole world seems to take a notion and makes you their example. That should make the US, now that they become aware, a responsible example of how to threat earth without war and fear. War is Europes (the old countries-)culture.

    Now be that cowboy again, love nature and the frontiers. Move forward to where no one has gone before and make sure the other 5.600.000.000 world citizens can pick up on it before we all (the world) come to some self fullfilling Apocalipse

    That last one (Apocalipse) is one of the not inherited things in your ‘culture’. It is only inherrited by your aristocratic leadership. And that is only half of your leadership the way I see it. In Europe it is a hidden and hard to beat ‘culture’.

    Freedom and learning to live with the nature (~of things) around you seems to be very much American from where I sit in Europe. I’m sorry you lost yourselves but don’t we all every once in a while?

    You know what the adult thing to do is;

    Start giving the right example again and the whole world will stand a chance. Don’t be bothered with burdons.
    Pick up the challenge and realize that there are more examples to pick up on in every (meltingpot) culture.

    April 3 (don’t stop)

  11. Kenney @ American Life Blog

    August 21, 2009

    I can agree completely with the above-laid-out plan!

    Kudos on this page!!! Spreading the news…

    Kenney

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