To be sure, that’s an advantage, but then then how does Germany, with some of the world’s most expensive labor, export so successfully year after year.

Indeed, until last year, Germany was the world’s leader exporter. Not bad for an economy of some 82 million people. And it was only replaced with China’s 1.3 billion sized economy. For years, Germany has exported more than the U.S., yet its economy is less than 1/3 of America’s in size.

Quality — particularly at the highest end of the product spectrum — still counts. And apparently still affords advantages against low price ‘cheap’ labor.

I’m also not sure what is meant when Lifton tells us America has to enlarge “its engineering education system and make it accessible to those qualified by merit alone.”

Apparently Jack should check enrollment at U.S. universities — particularly at the graduate level. In engineering, science and math related studies, the majority of students aren’t Americans — they’re foreigners or ‘aliens’ as U.S. law calls them.

Isn’t that a testament both to the quality of U.S. universities and to the meritocracy of getting in?