That Used to Be Us: How America
Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back. By Thomas L.
Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York. 380 pp.
Taking
their title from a speech by President Barack Obama, Thomas L. Friedman and
Michael Mandelbaum express worry about the rise of China at the outset of their
book. “It makes no sense for China to have better rail systems than us,” Obama
said in an address in 2010. “And we just learned that China now has the fastest
supercomputer on Earth. That used to be us.” But the authors quickly make it
clear that the main source of their concern is their own country, the United
States. They wonder not only how America could fall behind in technology, but,
worse, why American society is so complacent about it.
“People
have sort of gotten used to it,” they explain. But Friedman and Mandelbaum,
prolific writers on global policy issues, steadfastly refuse to accept that
China will inevitably dominate global affairs in the twenty-first century. “[We
need to] become more like ourselves,” they argue. “Our problem is not China.
Our problem is us—what we are doing and not doing.” As they see it, four
challenges face Americans: adapting to non-polar globalization; moving beyond
the IT revolution; achieving fiscal sustainability; and combating climate
change. They believe these challenges require a collective response, one that,
alas, is not forthcoming in America’s divisive politics.
The
authors contend that the key to American success is innovation, rather than
mere critical thinking, which has been America’s comparative advantage in
science and education in the past. They hail what they term Carlson’s Law, a
bow to Curtis Carlson, CEO of SRI International, which serves as an innovation
factory for companies and governments alike. In accordance with Carlson’s Law,
Americans must assemble not just a good team, but the best team in the world.
Such thinking should govern American education, including college entrance
tests. Only such shock therapy can keep America on top. “Average is over,” the
authors insist.
Friedman
and Mandelbaum want Americans to rediscover their values. They decry the
behavior of the titans of American finance that helped trigger the economic
meltdown of 2008; they quote the chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry
Commission describing how a practice of creating, then betting against, certain
subprime mortgage-backed securities was being compared to “selling a car with
faulty brakes and then buying an insurance policy on the buyer.” They argue
that Americans must embrace a discipline of delayed gratification, accept
healthy skepticism of American institutions, and collaborate together for
positive collective action. “We don’t need to imitate China,” they say. “What
we need is not novel or foreign. What we need instead is to understand our own
history.”
The
Middle East can borrow some of these ideas. After its revolution, Egypt needs a
collective culture, shared vision, sustainable advantage within multi-polar
globalization, country branding, a radical reshape of its education system, an
innovation spirit in the younger generation, and environmental compliance.
Egypt must adapt its future society by positioning itself well and using shock
therapy and transformational change, albeit without losing too much of its
traditional values and identity. Longer term innovative thinking, good
governance with healthy skepticism, and collaborative change must be addressed
in Egypt as in America. The mindset of “people have sort of gotten used to it”
must change.
Tarek Selim is professor of economics at the American University in Cairo. He has served as a
senior economic advisor for the Egyptian Competition Authority and is a
founding member of the Alfred P. Sloan Industry Studies Association at the
University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of Egypt, Energy and the Environment:
Critical Sustainability Perspectives.