3E Intelligence

Great Op-Ed by Thomas Friedman once more in the NY Times. Like no other, Friedman, who’s recent book “Hot, flat and crowded” should be mandatory reading for all EU policy-makers hits the nail on the head.

Two quotes from the excellent article:

The bailout is necessary, says Friedman, but “we don’t just need a bailout. We need a buildup. We need to get back to making stuff, based on real engineering not just financial engineering. We need to get back to a world where people are able to realize the American Dream — a house with a yard — because they have built something with their hands, not because they got a “liar loan” from an underregulated bank with no money down and nothing to pay for two years.”

“… when this bailout is over, we need the next president — this one is wasted — to launch an E.T., energy technology, revolution with the same urgency as this bailout. Otherwise, all we will have done is bought ourselves a respite, but not a future. The exciting thing about the energy technology revolution is that it spans the whole economy — from green-collar construction jobs to high-tech solar panel designing jobs. It could lift so many boats.”