Physical engineering research & development and science will increasingly leave the U.S. (and "developed countries") because it is simply cheaper to do that work elsewhere due to the cost of labor differences. 

Thus, the U.S. is increasingly turning into a mere marketing hub. Pundits often blame the drain on our education system, but it is just capitalism at work: students go where the money is, and it is not science and physics any more due to the stiff and plenty 3rd-world competition in those fields. 

Unlike the laws of marketing, the laws of physics are the same everywhere. Thus, a physics or physical process expert in a 3rd world country will find their skills are competitive and valued at their cost of living level compared to alternatives, but somebody in the U.S. will find their paychecks are bigger in law and business than in physics, math, or "pure" tech. That is how capitalism is supposed to work: students focus on where the money is. Adam Smith's principles seem to be working just fine. 

Our education system is simply out-of-sync with Adam Smith. It over-emphasizes skills that the government wants people to focus on instead of where the money is. If the government wants more citizen techies for national security reasons, they better help protect the existing crop of techies from the onslaught of BrainsAsaCheapCommodity, otherwise the newer crop will smell low money and instability, and walk on. In the next big war, our only weapons may be sales brochures and phony smiles. Or, maybe sue the enemy to his knees. That's using our "comparative advantage". --top
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See also: WhatIfTechStaysDead
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CategoryEmployment