https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/03/26/trump-passes-baton-technological-leadership-china/iMrKHFPIyxhMju8nw0SfIL/story.html

Trump passes the baton of technological leadership to China

By Jeffrey D. Sachs   March 27, 2017

At the core of a country’s global competitiveness is its ability to innovate. As economist Joseph Schumpeter observed in his classic “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy,’’ capitalism is characterized by waves of “creative destruction,” in which advances in technology create new industries while destroying old ones. Yet President Trump is putting America’s capacity to innovate at the gravest risk in America’s modern history. His proposals are tantamount to passing the baton of global technology leadership to China.
Trump is playing out the game plan of the Republican far-right, led by the Koch brothers, to slash government programs in order to slash taxes. That’s true of the Obamacare overhaul (fortunately derailed, at least for now), and it’s also true regarding government programs to spur innovation. If enacted they will lead to a national calamity: the further disappearance of decent middle-class jobs. https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2017/03/26/trump-passes-baton-technological-leadership-china/iMrKHFPIyxhMju8nw0SfIL/story.html