American Competitiveness & Economic Diplomacy

Our ability to compete in a global economy, attract the world’s brightest workers and nurture a functional political system is slipping.

This weakness is now at a point where it threatens to erode the pillars upon which America’s national security rests.

America’s competitiveness is now a matter of national security.

We need to acknowledge that current policies and objectives in the public and private sector, taken together, dangerously undercut America’s current and future global position through instability, inefficiency and risk.

America’s political and business leaders must understand that improving our nation’s competitiveness is an urgent priority with much higher stakes than is acknowledged today. Improving the country’s competitive position will require much more than assembling disparate policy initiatives and expecting them to deliver success.

Accordingly, ASP examines interrelated elements of American present vulnerabilities: business climate, infrastructure, national debt, labor market and immigration, defense industrial base, as well as education and healthcare. And turning these to the strengths they once were.

In keeping with ASP’s core mission of examining more than military might when assessing national security, the report also reframes one of the recurring questions of international relations: What factors really make us strong and safe?

Key Links:

Harvard Business School – American Competitiveness

Harvard Business Review Special Edition 

HBS Survey on U.S. Competitiveness: Prosperity at Risk