Marc Andreessen on American Strengths

What should the US specialize in -- i.e. where will our opportunity cost be lowest?

Well, how are we strong/advantaged vs other countries...

* Higher education -- we're the best in the world; students come from every other country on the planet to study in our colleges and universities.

* Entrepreneurialism throughout the system -- we continue to be the most entrepreneurial economy on the planet (more than China, more than India, certainly more than Japan, ... and way more than Europe).

* Ease of creating new business -- by far it's simplest and easiest in the US.

* Talent pool -- in the US is amazing.

* Open immigration policy (comparatively) -- we could get economically stronger arbitrarily by opening up our immigration policy more and letting more smart people come to the US.

* Low taxes (relatively)

* Low business regulation (relatively)

* Integrated market with no trade barriers and few cultural barriers.

* Risk-friendly culture (this is hugely important)

* Culture that loves new things -- American obsession with the latest and greatest -- often made fun of but hugely valuable.

* Venture capital base -- nothing like it anywhere in the world.  There is no venture capital base to speak of in Japan or India, specifically.  There will be at some point, hopefully, but for now there's practically none.

* Already home to the leading companies in lots of important fields.

What are we good at?  A short list...

* Innovation and entrepreneurialism -- anything new we tend to be really good at
* Software design
* Advanced chip design (CPUs, 3D accelerators, etc.)
* Networking systems design
* Financial services
* Health care
* Biotech
* Nanotech
* Telecommunications
* Media/entertainment
* Industrial design
* Consumer products
* Sports
* Marketing
* Defense and defense technologies
* Ecommerce
* Law
* Education
* Agriculture (!!! -- we are an exporter)
* Advanced manufacturing (technologically sophisticated manufacturing -- US manufacturing output is up 40% in the last 10 years because we are so good at this)
* extend this list however you like...

So take our list of strengths and the list of things that we're good at and to a first order approximation, assume we do more and more of those things, and assume we offshore more and more things that aren't on or related to those lists.

The rest of the world benefits as we do those things and we benefit as the rest of the world does other things.