Emerson Radio Address: How the Competition Stacks Up

EMERSON RADIO ADDRESS: How the Competition Stacks Up

"It's easy to get the feeling that America is always playing defense on the global market.

We compete with other industrialized nations for oil and energy resources. Our agricultural markets are routinely under fire from members of the World Trade Organization. Especially in rural America, we fight against the loss of jobs to outsourcing among global competitors. The American image abroad is a constant topic of concern for diplomacy experts and foreign policy analysts.

Protecting our status as a global economic leader and the world's lone superpower is a tough task for our country. So is fending off competitors for the crown.

Still, we should take a moment to recognize the things we are doing right, and have done right, to get to our position among nations today.

Business Week magazine measured the United States against India and China in several indicators of infrastructure and commerce, calling the three nations "Global Giants."

First, remember that the population of the U.S. is roughly 300 million, while India is home to 1.1 billion and China boasts a population of 1.3 billion. The U.S. and China are very similar in amount of land area, while India is about one-third the size of either. These three countries rank one, two and three in population, and all are top-ten nations in land area.

However, America hosts 47,000 miles of national expressways, nearly twice the 25,000 miles of national expressways in China and 13 times more than India's 3,700 miles of national roads. America contains 189 major airports, as compared to 56 for China and 17 for India. The advantage of our transportation infrastructure is important and obvious. Our roads and airports facilitate the transfer of goods and services in a national economy, from enhancing the ability of people to travel for business and pleasure to making it easier for our producers and manufacturers to get their goods to market. Strong, reliable transportation infrastructure enhances the quality of
life for all Americans and promotes our national unity.

Internet penetration, measured as the availability of Internet access to citizens, measures 69.6 percent in America, 10.4 percent in China and 3.5 percent in India, according to Internet World Stats. America shares the distinction of being one of 21 world nations with a literacy rate of 99.9 percent. India comes in at number 144 with a literacy rate of 61 percent and China ranks 80th with a literacy rate of 90.9 percent. Clearly, better educational opportunities, nearly universal opportunities to use new technologies and access to a free press are advantages in the global competition.

Finally, the U.S. produces more energy than either of the other two Global Giants, 4 trillion kilowatt hours. China produces 2.5 trillion and India 652 billion. It is this last area in which we may have to fight the hardest to maintain the U.S. advantage. Fortunately, new fuel technologies and renewable energy resources have the potential to assure clean, affordable, reliable energy to Americans and U.S. businesses into the future by drastically reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

Of course, there are many yardsticks with which we can measure ourselves against our global neighbors. By some, America certainly does not compare so well. Still, we should never forget our place in the world, our responsibilities as a world leader, and the opportunity we have been entrusted with by those who came before us and worked so hard to make America the great country it is today.

With all of these advantages in mind, we must continually ask this question of ourselves: What are we Americans doing today to make sure our country is a great one tomorrow? In this global competition, there is no finish line or final buzzer. The point is not to win, it is to stay ahead."

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