"When we shrink investments in higher education and research, 'we shoot ourselves in both feet,' remarked K.R. Sridhar, founder of Bloom Energy, the Silicon Valley fuel-cell company. 'Our people become less skilled, so you are shooting yourself in one foot. And the smartest people from around the world have less reason to come here for the quality education, so you are shooting yourself in the other foot.'”
"As I've said, nations that don’t invest in the future tend not to do well there."
Both from "Do You Want the Good News First?", Thomas Friedman, New York Times, 2012-05-19.
Friedman didn't write it explicitly, but I find it ironic that some businesses complain they can't find enough qualified employees and complain about taxes. Duh, do they think that hundreds of thousands are going to be able to afford to pay for all their training, especially when so many companies want narrowly defined "skills"?
