IMO pintohoo, we can do it the easy way or we can attempt to do it the
hardest way and IMO trying to compete with countries without natural resources
in areas like those listed by moondoong above is the hard way because in essence we are competing with
a greater number of competitors without any unique advantages.
While some Americans are excellent inventors/innovators and and commercialisers/monetisers of their IP,
America generally in under the pump when it comes to a fair standard of living for all, peaceful and safe communities
and where everyone gets a fair shake of the sauce bottle. IMO other countries are simply doing better.
https://www.usdebtclock.org
This is why , like us recently, the USA is living off debt, not the amazing profits of the dot.coms pharma, IT etc;
this is capitalised on by US Multinationals who exploit rich consumer markets, low cost production jurisdictions and
stash the cash in tax havens. This transnationalism makes it very difficult for any country to educate/train personnell
when their is minimal return to the public purse.
That is why Aus has been finding it more economically viable to import highly educated/highly skilled personnell
rather than train/educate our own. Just look at the CEOs and senior staff in our biggest corporations as well as
leading academics in our tertiary institutions.
So to get back to the topic : Steel Mills or Universities, IMO we need both but with a particular emphasis on
steel mills because that is where our strengths lie and where we have a competitive advantage.
We have abundance of:
-Iron Ore
-Met Coals
-LNG
-Bauxite
-copper & base metals
-Gold
-etc
Others dont have these but others have oodles of people, universities and moondoong's list of Gig industries.
Lets face it, if we were a nation of midgets we wouldn't be going for gold at the Olympics in basketball; instead we'd be creaming them
in gymnastics etc.
let's say Indonesia took us over in say 10 years time backed by China then they could say that we didn't use our resources;
just let foreigners dig it upend ship it out . This is the same reason we give for colonising Aus; the Natives did not fence
or work the country; in other words they did not have a property in it (as Locke might say in his Life, Liberty & Property essays)
Dont laugh, Indonesia has struck a blow by already prohibiting miners from exporting raw ores.!
